Cold Hearts
by Justanotherlife
Summary: Darkness from her past followed Tiana Hertz all her life. It made her realize that avoiding emotions was the only way to keep the pain at bay. After losing her family she joined the survey corps and was put into the special operations squad with the fame of being nearly as strong and cold hearted as Captain Levi. Her past brought them close as their hearts slowly thawed.(Rewritten)
1. Prologue

**[Warning: this story contains underage sex, rape, self harm and mention of death]**

Prologue

It was a cold winter night in wall Sina. The underground brothels were filled with people as usual. In a small brothel in the upper class whorehouses, the bidding of sex slaves took place. There were girls cuffed to the wooden walls of the brothel with no clothes for the customers to choose. Girls of all ages were displayed to the customers. After all, in the underground, age never mattered. As long as the girl had a vagina, she was good enough to be sold. Tiana was one of those girls cuffed to the wall. She was 7 years old, and the seller was expecting a high bid for her as she was good at tolerating an immense amount of pain and staying alive. After all, that's what she was trained for by years of torture just to please the desires of a sick and horrid man. Just as the bid for Tiana rose to 200 gold coins, the survey corps entered the brothel and broke the joint. The survey corps were underground because the were looking for a military personnel who seemed to steal and sell their 3DMG to the black market but as they came across the brothel, they decided to intervene and stop the selling of the minors. A trial was held and Tiana, the only child under the age of 12, was adopted by the Hertz couple who lived in the shiganshina district and served the Garrison . Tiana was not social and preferred to keep to herself and read a lot of books. She knew how to read before she was adopted but it took some time to get her to talk because of the trauma she went through. She was caught a few times trying self harm but that only made her learn to do it secretly. She liked hurting herself as she was used to it since she was 5. Time passed and one day, Tiana killed a garrison member because he tried to touch her inappropriately. This caused a lot of commotion and another trial was held but the right hand of the Survey Corps Commander, Erwin Smith, took full responsibility to train her to control herself as he and the other survey corps had a mission outside wall Maria and decided to stay in shiganshina for a few years. She was 8 when it happened. After 5 years of training with Erwin Smith, she was more antisocial, really good with swords, and could tackle a grown man without killing him. She however, was not comfortable around any man except Mr Hertz, Erwin Smith and Levi Ackerman, who was another antisocial recruit at that time, really talented and also came from the underground. The first time she met Levi was when she was 8 and at Commander Smith's quarters. Levi was in the same squad as Commander Smith and visited him frequently for work purposes. The only interaction she ever had with Levi was when she quietly read books which she borrowed from the commander and Levi drank his tea in the living room. She didn't hate him like other men because he never talked to her or looked at her. When Tiana turned 14, wall Maria breached. Levi was a captain then and Erwin was on a meeting with the Commander Pixis on behalf of commander Shadis in wall Rose. Mr and Mrs Hertz left Tiana with a guard to take her to the evacuation boat while the Hertzs went to fight the titans. They never came back as they were eaten. Tiana had no other choice than to join the survey corps. It was intimidating for her as there were many men there too but she knew how to tackle them when necessary. She tried not to make many friends but she grew close to Mikasa Ackerman and Eren Jaegar as they also killed someone when they were younger.


	2. Making of a monster

Tiana POV

After mom and dad were dead, I promised myself that I won't get attached anymore. They were the only people I trusted except Commander Erwin. I joined the training at the age of 16 in hopes for becoming a Survey Corp like Commander Erwin. My parents would've been proud of me if I gave my life for humanity like they did.

We were made to stand in a line while Ex Commander and now, Instructor of the trainee corps, Shadis was giving a speech about how hard training could be. I wasn't paying much attention because I knew how hard it could get. I got personal training from Commander Erwin anyway. We were said that we would do a training exercise where we would balance on two ropes so that we can use the 3DMG. I personally was looking forward to this as that's the only thing Uncle Erwin didn't teach me and I liked learning new things. Everything seemed alright till I realised that there were men all around me. Men made me uneasy because of my past. I didn't let it bother me. I took this as a part of the training. I easily balanced on the ropes like most of the cadets. I noticed this other girl with black hair who was really good at this too. Maybe getting to know her won't be a bad idea. There was only one person who fell face down on the ropes. The instructor shouted at him and dismissed everyone.

That night, the guy who fell down talked about seeing titans. Apparantly his mother was eaten by one. I got bored when he started talking about how he wants revenge and said "Would revenge really bring your mother back? It's pointless to think about revenge when you get nothing out of it. If you want to kill titans, do it for humanity. That's the reason I'm here." The boy got all mad and said "You wouldn't understand how it feels to see your mother getting killed!". That's when this other guy said something that made me regret talking at all. He said " Ofcourse she wouldn't know. She is a murderer herself. I don't know why they even let her into the training after she killed that Garrison soldier. She's a fucking traitor.". This did hit a nerve but I remained calm and kept my usual straight face and said "Well, maybe you should be scared of me then. You must know how I killed that man" and I walked away. Maybe I should've just kept to myself as usual. I sat outside the house assigned for cadets on the porch. That's when the black haired girl sat beside me with that stupid boy who talked about revenge. "Sorry. I didn't know." said the boy. I didn't reply. "My name is Mikasa and he's Eren. He can be a bit childish at times. Please don't mind that. What's your name?" said the black haired girl. "Tiana" I replied. After a pause, I said "It's okay".

1 year later

The people from the cadet corps started getting friendlier to me with time. I avoided most of them though as making friends wasn't my objective. I stayed close to Mikasa and Eren, even if I found Eren absolutely immatured due to his big talks about how titans aren't a big deal. One thing I've learnt from Uncle Erwin was that to never underestimate your foes. I was already excelling in every aspects of military training, with me and Mikasa being at the same level at most cases, except 3DMG training, where I apparantly was prodigious due to my light weight and aerobic skills, which made me extremely agile. The instructor was greatly pleased with my progress and my disciplined nature and was surprised when he heard about my intentions of joining the survey corps. "With skills like yours, you can easily get into the interior military police, Cadet Hertz. Are you sure that you want to put your life at stake for humanity?" he asked me one day. "Sir, my life is as meaningless as it could be and I would rather put it at stake for humanity's victory instead of trying to make it seem meaningful." I answered him. "The survey corps need more brave soldiers like yourself, Cadet Hertz. Only then, perhaps, humanity can retake wall Maria and be victorious against the titans." the instructor replied to it. I leaned on the fence of the courtyard of the cadet corps training grounds, watching everyone practice hand to hand combat. This was a regular routine among us. There were people like Eren who were serious about this, people like Sasha and Connie, who fooled around, people like Jean, who thought it's pointless to learn hand to hand combat and people like myself and Annie, who didn't bother hurting others as we were too good at this. However, today was different as it seemed like Mikasa challenged Annie onto a hand to hand combat. Mikasa was strong and good at what she did but Annie was more agile, and she didn't rely on the typical fighting techniques taught at the trainee corps. Her fighting pattern was unpredictable, something Uncle Erwin did during our sword fight lessons, the ones where I never won against him. The fight was eventually stopped by Instructor Shadis, as they were almost killing eachother. The fight was going clearly on Mikasa's favour though. I made a mental note to myself that I would fight Mikasa the next day, just to brush up my hand to hand combat skills.

The next day

I did exactly what I planned. I challenged Mikasa and we were on our battle stances now. I went for my usual defensive position as Mikasa charged at me. I tried using her height to topple her but she got my hand and tried to get me down with her. I knew that possibility was there and I was prepared for it as I fell over her and immediately twisted myself in position, grabbing the wooden knife from her hand as her hand weakened as she fell down, used my leg to secure her hand while i was in safe distance from her legs, near her chest as I pointed the knife to her neck. "I win" I muttered with my monotoned voice l as I helped her get up and shook hands with her. "That was a good fight." Mikasa replied with a stoic expression. That's when the other cadets started begging me to fight Annie. I decided not to disappoint them and challenged Annie.

As we both went into our stances, I noticed that Annie was going defensive. I decided to change my usual tatics and went into an offensive stance. I charged towards Annie and I noticed that she would use my weight against me. As she picked me up, trying to throw me off, I wrapped my legs around her shoulder and brought her down. The wooden knife went flying from her hand and I caught it, pointing at her neck as I held her hands at her back. I helped her up after that and before she walked away, I told her, "Oi Annie, could you show me that move of yours that you taught Eren?". " Why should I? You're already better than I am at this." she asked with a frown. "I'd rather be on the safe side by knowing as much self defence as I can" I answered. "Aren't you joining the survey corps? You wouldn't need all these against titans anyway." Annie told me, her frown getting deeper. "The most that titans could do to me is kill me. I'm not afraid of death. What I'm afraid of are humans. They can make you suffer things worse than death and I would like to avoid that." I answered. "Very well, this is how you do it" Annie told me as she approached me to show me her moves.

A week later

"Oi Tiana! Instructor Shadis is calling for you! He commanded me to do the mopping for today and gave you a day off... How the hell do you always get off work like that?" Eren grumbled as he approached me. I had cleaning duties for the mess hall today and I was mopping the floor when Eren came to me. I was dismissed from cleaning duties a few times before as well because Commamder Erwin, or as I called him before, Uncle Erwin came to visit. I usually call him Uncle Erwin when we are in private but stick to commander infront of others to maintain the formality. However, I was never in a situation where I had to call him commander before. Nonetheless, Eren took advantage of those few times I got dismissed to make up the statement that I'm always excused from cleaning duties. These were exactly the reason that I found him annoying but at the same time, he was one of the few people who were nice to me and wasn't intimidated at the same time and thus, I remained to be friendly with him. "Thanks for the help" I muttered to him before going to report to Instructor Shadis.

"State name and business" I heard his voice from the other side of the door to his office. Being called to the Instructor's office was usually a dreadful thing for most cadets, specially Sasha, as the only reason they'd get called was to get punished because of their stupidity. I was, however, never called for indiscipline and instead I was usually called to meet Uncle Erwin, to discuss my future career as the instructor personally talked to Uncle Erwin about my progress so that I get placed in a good squad after graduation. "It's cadet Hertz. You called me, sir." I answered in my monotoned voice. I got in the office after he told me to come in. "Sit down" he commanded me and I sat on the chair facing him. "You're at the top of the class at 3DMG training, fitness training, and now, according to the recent marked hand to hand combat training, you're at the top of the class there too. On academics, you are on a tie with cadet Arlet at most subjects except geography and history of titans as you are always in second place in those subjects. On the other hand, you are terrible with horses. If you can improve one of the two, you can be the first of the class but if your skills with horses don't improve, you can give up your dream of joining the survey corps." he told me. "I understand sir but, I don't know how to make those horses like me when all they want to do is kick me." I answered in a monotoned voice. "Yes, I noticed that. I will assign you with cadet Braus. She is gifted with animals. She can help you out with getting one of those horses in control. Your training starts from tommorow. You are dismissed." Instructor shadis told me before dismissing me.

The next week

"Here, take these" with that, Sasha handed me a basket of apples. Apples were expensive now but it seemed like there was no other option than to bribe the horses into liking me. Sasha tried all other ways possible to make those horses like me but they all were only interested in kicking me. "Now, take an apple in your hand and give it to the horse. The worst that could happen is that you would get bitten." Sasha explained with a smile. That was the only horse that decided not to kick me the last day. Sasha thought that this horse wasn't hostile while I thought that the horse was having pity on me. I held my hand out to the horse with the apple and surprisingly, the horse ate the apple and not my hand. After feeding it a few more apples, the horse let me pat it's head. "See? She isn't too bad" Sasha told the horse while grooming it. I finally got a horse to like me. That seemed like a big progress given that I can't easily even get people to like me.

2 years later

It was the combat stimulated graduation test and we were to be graded on the results of this one. I was clearly the best among the team. I was quick to learn a lot of 3DMG tricks that many couldn't learn. Instructor Shadis was really proud of me and taught me as much as I could possibly know. During the training exercise, I easily flew through the woods and struck 6 out of the 10 titan dummies before anyone else. Two with the assistance of Mikasa, who was a good friend. Eren was good at flying but his cuts weren't deep enough. I was easily the first among all the cadets and Instructor Shadis compared me to Levi Ackerman who now is known as the strongest soldier of humanity. I haven't seen him for 8 years since he became a captain and moved inside Wall Rose. I never really talked to him but I didn't dislike him because he never bothered me. I didn't mind being compared to him. I still wasn't comfortable around men and found it difficult to trust them. I didn't change my decision about joining the survey corps.

The morning after the graduation ceremony was really awkward. After Eren's speech about saving humanity, most of the top 10 soldiers decided to join the Survey Corps. I gotta say, that guy has some really good potential in convincing people even if his emotions always mess things up. Being emotional is what made them not get the first position. Anyway, we were standing on the wall when everyone was talking about joining the Survey corps. Sasha even stole some meat for us to share and then, suddenly the colossal titan appeared again. I didn't see it the first time but seeing it now made me genuinely scared. It was huge. It kicked a hole in the wall and I saw Eren try to fight it. I knew he couldn't because that thing was too big to fight. But ofcourse, Eren is an idiot. Surprisingly, it disappeared just before Eren got the finishing blow. Eren got back up on the wall, apologising for not being able to kill the colossal titan just as a garrison soldier ran towards us. "What are you trainees doing? The strategy for dealing with a colossal titan appearance is already in motion! Report to your posts on the double! And if any of you made contact with it, make a report to HQ!" he commanded us as other garrison soldiers arrived. "Hai!" we all answered before flying towards the HQ.

I found Mikasa on the way after reporting to the captain of the Garrison as she was looking for Eren and Armin. We searched for them and found Armin having a panic attack while Eren comforting him as they were filling gas tanks. I understood how Armin felt, I was scared too but this wasn't the time to let my fears get the best of me. I remained calm and quiet when I got assigned to the rear guard with the most Elite soldiers. Mikasa was also selected in the rear guard much to her dismay. She wanted to protect Eren but there wasn't much of an option here. We all got into position, watching the civilians being evacuated. The titans didn't reach this part of the town yet. After waiting for a while, I could see 7 titans, three 12 meter class, two 10 meter class, one 3 meter class and one 8 meter class, approaching. The middle guard wasn't doing a good job for sure. It seemed that two of those titans were abnormals that ran past us in sheer speed. "Hey you all! Get those abnormals! I'll take care of these" I shouted to my squad members. A man from Garrison shouted with hesitation, "You're just a cadet! You don't have the experience to take on 5 titans at once!". " I can! Don't waste time! Just go!" I shouted at them with authority in my voice. The look in my eyes told them that I was being serious and they went after the two abnormals. I took out my blades and gracefully flew up with my 3DMG, making perfect strokes on the nape of the titans.

I stood on a roof of a building, looking at the blood steaming up from my sleeves. This looked familiar. The only thing different was that the blood didn't steam up back then. "Oi cadet Hertz! The evacuation is complete! Get out of here!" our squad leader shouted at me. "I'm going to see how the middle guard is doing." Mikasa shouted at the leader as she zoomed past me. I decided to follow the leader's orders and get over the wall. I knew Eren's safety was important for Mikasa but I barely had any gas in my tank after taking down those titans and I assumed that I should make the rational decision and try to survive.

To be continued


	3. New family

Tiana POV

I was in the town near Trost district, drinking a cup of tea when I heard the cannon fire. The squad with Mikasa returned but I didnt see Mikasa, Armin and Eren around. I was getting a bit worried about it. Since I didn't have any gas in my 3DMG, I couldn't get on roofs to see what's going on like everyone else. I figured that I'll find out later about the cannon fire and the unusual amount of steam.

And I did find out the source of the steam. I was standing below the wall with other cadets from my class when Commander Pixis declared that Eren can shift into a titan. It was a ridiculous thing to say, but it explained the steam and the suicidal plan that commandet Pixis was talking about. The commander didn't have any reason to lie to be honest but Eren being able to become a titan? That just seemed impossible. There were a lot of soldiers protesting against this but Commander Pixis was able to shut them up with a motivational speech. After a while, I was called on the top of the wall, to join the elite squad that would protect Eren. Mikasa was there too. The plan was to run on the wall and get close to the boulder that laid in the middle of the city and make Eren transform and take the boulder and plug the hole in the wall. "Oi Mikasa, what exactly can Eren do? I mean, what commander Pixis told us was too far fetched." I asked Mikasa as I was running beside her. The other squad members were having a conversation with Eren about how everyone is depending on him. "He can form a body of a titan on his own and control it. He saved me twice already." Mikasa answered. "You must be thrilled" I told her with a smirk. Mikasa had this crush on Eren for ages and anyone with eyes could see that. Everyone except Eren that is. "Shut up Tiana" Mikasa mumbled with a small blush.

When we reached the closest route to the boulder, we switched to 3DMG. While the squad and myself landed on a roof of a building, Eren bit his hand and there was a huge thunder bolt and there was this huge 15 meter class titan that appeared out of nowhere and looked disturbingly like Eren. To our surprise, that titan threw a punch at Mikasa. Mikasa flew on top of the titan's face trying to talk sense into it. "Mikasa! Get off him! He's not in control!" I shouted at her just before the titan threw a blow at Mikasa, that Mikasa barely dodged, thus knocking itself out. Rico from our squad fired a smoke signal for the failed plan. After a small argument with Mikasa throwing dirty looks at everyone who tried to abandon Eren and thus that titan, squad Leader Ian decided that Mikasa and I would be standing guard to protect Eren while the others will be keeping the titans approaching us at bay. "This is a mess. You said he can control this." I muttered to Mikasa. "Trust me, he did control it. It's probably because he is tired..." Mikasa sighed, looking at the unconscious titan. "How exactly did Eren get out of this thing?" I asked Mikasa with curiosity. "He got out of the nape." Mikasa shortly answered, her worried eyes still on Eren. Wasn't it possible to cut him out of the nape? Just as the thought came to my mind, I saw a titan coming towards us, ignoring the squad. Were they attracted to Eren? "Mikasa, get that titan. I'll be near Eren." I told her as she ran off to kill the titan. Just as Mikasa slit the nape of that titan, I saw Armin flying towards us. "Tiana! What happened to the plan? What's wrong with Eren?" he asked. "The plan failed. Eren can't control this thing. We need to get him out of here as soon as possible. You were there when Eren got out of the titan. Is it possible to cut him out of the nape?" I asked Armin firmly. "I don't know about that but I can try to get him into control!" Armin shouted as he got on Eren's back. "Armin! It's dangerous!Get away from there!" Mikasa shouted at Armin as she got closer to us. "I tried talking to it, but got no reaction. It doesn't matter who does! It's pointless!" Mikasa continued. "Maybe it's because Eren can't listen to us! Cutting him out will be too risky but if I stab him at the right place and create an opening for him to listen through..." Armin shouted at us. "Strike from the back of the head to the nape of the neck... One meter length wise, ten centimetres across" Armin made a calculation in his head before shouting out, "Tiana! Mikasa! Protect this area from titans! I to get Eren out of here!" Armin shouted before using his 3DMG to hook himself to Eren's titan. I understood his plan and didn't question him and thus, followed his instructions and flew over to the squad who were fighting the hoard of about 15 titans coming towards Eren. Mikasa wasn't following me yet. The squad was getting pummelled just before I reached, saving a squad member who got caught by a titan. My blades were wearing off quickly as I didn't get a change of blades after the evacuation. Apparantly there was a shortage of blades as all soldiers were fighting, most of them acting as baits to keep the titans near the wall. They were given blades too for self defence incase a titan caught them. I took down 6 more titans with the assistance of the squad and thus, I was left with my last set of good blades. My gas tank was less than half filled and just before I decided to retreat, I heard a huge roar. I looked back and saw Eren's titan stand and carry the boulder. However, 5 titans were already coming from the gap of the wall. This looked bad, given that I had only one set of blades, not enough gas and there weren't any buildings to use 3DMG efficiently near the wall. However, that didn't stop me from flying towards Mikasa and Armin, who were near Eren. "The weakling really did it" I thought because I didn't expect Armin to make any contribution, given that he always had to rely on his friends. I respected his knowledge but I didn't like how he never had any confidence in himself. I tried to use as less gas as possible to get near them, running on buildings most of the time. Squad leader Ian followed me and ordered Mikasa, myself and Armin to protect Eren at all costs. Without any doubt, Mikasa and I were the most skilled people in this squad. Mikasa was gifted with talent while I trained for much longer than they did and with the commander of the survey corps, who knew exactly how hard the training should get. The Garrison soldiers simply lacked the talent and training as they weren't expected to fight titans. They were much better at using cannons though. As we ran out of buildings, we started running infront of Eren. Mitabi squad was trying to distract the titans and our squad soon followed. Still, two of the titans avoided them and walked towards us. "Mikasa! Armin! I'll take care of them! Don't leave Eren's side!" I shouted at them before running towards the titans. I had absolutely no experience in fighting titans without using any buildings to use 3DMG but I knew that I had to give my absolute best. I ran around the two 13 meter classes and shot the hook of my 3DMG at one of their legs and then to its right armsto fly up and kill the second titan. However, I suddenly found myself in the bone crushing grasp of the first titan. These all seemed too familiar, the tight grab, the blood, the smug smiles... I used one blade to cut through it's hand thus breaking the blade and shot the hook of my 3DMG at the eye of that titan. Again... So familiar... The pressure of the 3DMG shot me up in the air as I shot the hook at its nape and using the last blade to cut it's nape, thus spending all my blades.

I ran towards Mikasa and Armin, who were very close to the wall, avoiding every other titan who were eating our comrades. Is that how it looked like when my parents were killed? To my regret, my mind started making up painful images of them being devoured but I shook them off my mind. It wasn't the time to think. Just as I reached them, Armin shouted out "GO EREN!" and Eren plugged the hole. It was over. We just retook Trost district. Rico shot a smoke signal for the mission being successful. Armin immediately went on top of Eren's titan to get him out. Reinforcements would be sent soon but there wasn't much time as two titans were already approaching us and I was useless for now. Mikasa and Rico went up to aid Armin and I followed them to see Eren's hand turned into flesh and stuck to the titan. "We'll have to cut him out." Rico stated before cutting off the flesh, not listening to Mikasa's protests. Armin fell down the impact and I noticed that the titans were already upon us. Mikasa still had good blades but she wasn't fast enough... I had to make a gamble as Uncle Erwin always put it. I flew up and hooked my 3DMG to one of the titan's forehead and tried to make a clean cut on the nape but my blade broke midway and I almost fell but managed to use my 3DMG to land safely beside Armin. Suddenly, I saw what seemed like a blur moving in round motions and the two titans fell flat infront of us. That for sure wasn't Mikasa. Mikasa landed beside me just a moment later and I saw this figure with the wings of freedom on his back standing on top of one of the titan's head. "Oi, brats. What's the situation here?" he said as he turned towards us and I saw Levi for the first time after 8 years.

A few days later

I was sitting at the mess hall with Mikasa and Armin. They had imprisoned Eren after the retake of Trost. Apparantly the military police was behind it. I personally never liked them as they were against me during my trial and now, they were against one of the few so called friends I had. "Armin Arlet! Mikasa Ackerman! Tiana Hertz!" a military police soldier called us. "Hai!" the three of us shouted, standing up. "You all are called at the trial as witnesses." he told us asking is to follow him. We were told that Eren's trial will take place right now and Armin predicted that they probably would decide whether Eren should live or die. I knew he was right because I personally saw how unpredictable Eren's powers are. However, that might be the only chance humanity has against titans. We followed the military police soldier to the enormous courtroom and waited in our designated places. I noticed that Levi was there beside uncle Erwin. Both uncle Erwin and commander Nile dock of the military police stated their intentions with Eren. The judge, supreme commander Darius Zakley then asked Eren if he could continue to contribute to mankind. Eren, ofcourse said that he can but that's where things went south. "Is that so? This is from the report on the recovery mission. Right after becoming a titan, you swung your fist three times at Mikasa Ackerman" the supreme commander read from a paper. Mikasa threw a dirty look at Rico who said, "What was I supposed to do? Lie in the report? Covering the truth won't do humanity any good" Rico answered. The Supreme commander then called Mikasa and asked for verification. Even if she hesitated, Rico encouraged her to tell the truth and thus Mikasa told the truth. "But, two times before that, Eren saved my life in his titan form..." Mikasa started mentioning the times Eren saved her. "I wonder, everything that you just said is in the report, but wishful thinking has severely clouded your views reducing their objective value in my judgement. I know why you are taking Eren's side. While investigating Eren's background, I came across a record of an incident from 6 years ago. Astonishingly, when these two were 9 year old, they stabbed three adult robbers to death. After interviewing a few cadets from the 104 trainee corps, I also came to know that Eren finds himself around some very questionable people, one of them being Tiana Hertz, who seems to be around Eren Jaegar and Mikasa Ackerman a lot. Tiana Hertz also has a criminal record against her, as she stabbed to death a soldier at the age of 7, much younger than the incident with Eren Jaegar and Mikasa Ackerman. Their actions are understandable, it was legitimate self defence..." the commander of the military police brigade continued but I stopped listening. When he finished, people in the court started calling Mikasa and myself titan shifters too. "Commander Nile?" I found my voice calling out to him, acting on its own. Everyone was silenced by the murderous glint in my eyes. "Do you have a daughter?" my voice kept betraying me. I shouldn't be talking. "Yes. What's your point?" he asked. "Then why don't you..." I trailed off as I found Armin's hand on my shoulder, his eyes begging me to stop. "I'm sorry for interrupting." I controlled my urge to speak up. The murmurs of accusations increased after my stupid stunt and that's when Eren lost control and started shouting about how retarded everyone in the court was to think that we were bad people. Armin looked more uncomfortable than ever as both of us knew that Eren and I messed up badly. Just then, I saw Levi get up from his seat and go towards Eren and land a kick on him. Mikasa got furious at the scene and tried to go save Eren but Armin stopped her. I knew why Armin stopped her because all Levi had to do now was to show the court that he can control Eren. "This is just my opinion, but I've found pain the most effective punishment. The lesson you need to learn right now can't be taught with words, only with action. And you're kneeling which makes you easy to kick." He said in a monotoned voice.

This went on for a while till he showed clearly that he can control Eren. "Someone as skilled as the captain would be able to deal with Eren even in the worst case scenerio." Uncle Erwin explained to the supreme commander. "I see. Can you do it, Levi?" the supreme commander asked Levi. "If you mean killing him, it's no problem. Rather, the problem is, there's no half matters." Levi answered before looking directly at me. "And about that brat, I was planning to take her in my squad anyway since she had good feedback from Shadis, but, if she gets that big mouth of hers open again, I won't hesitate to send her with Jaegar.". Seems like he doesn't remember me. I didn't expect him to because he didn't even know my name back then. He only saw me occasionally at Uncle Erwin's office, reading books on a chair. I didn't question his authority though, as I did mess up.

A few more days later

We joined the Survey corps. Eren was already there and Mikasa couldn't wait to see him. That girl definitely likes Eren. We were choosing our horses when I was called to Uncle Erwin's office. As I entered the office, he said "So I see you have joined the Survey Corps. Your parents would've been proud of you". " I know Commander Erwin. Your training helped me a lot during the combat stimulated graduation test." I replied. "Tiana, you don't have to call me command. Just uncle Erwin would do. Isn't that what you used to call me before?" Uncle Erwin chuckled. "Well, I just thought it would be more professional if I called you Commander Erwin. But I'll call you uncle Erwin if you want to." I replied. "Well now, I've heard you're almost as good as Captain Levi. Instructor Shadis told me that you were a prodigious student and I mentioned it to Levi. I knew you wouldn't want my influence to move up the rank, so I didn't mention him that I trained you yet. He made the decision from the reports on retaking Trost. Apparently you already have a solo kill of 13 and assists of 9?" Uncle Erwin asked, impressed. "Yes. That's right." I answered monotonously. "Tiana, you need to appreciate your efforts for humanity at times... By the way, wasn't Eren Jaegar on the 104 training Corps with you?" Uncle Erwin asked. "Yes he was. He's one of my friends too." I replied. "Okay then, you may go now. Don't let your emotions stop Levi from killing Eren if things come to that" said Uncle Erwin with concern on his face. This man was like a second family to me as I spent hours training with him every day. He made me as strong as I am now. "I don't have emotions" I replied with a smile and left the office. I went back to the stable and I was given a black horse which apparantly was one of the fastest ones in the stable. Like my old horse at the trainee corps, this was the only one who accepted my bribes of apples. I didnt name the horse because I didn't plan to get attached to it. It, after all, would die in one of the expeditions right?

"Are you Tiana Hertz?" someone asked from behind me. I turned around and saw a girl with short brown hair on a horse. "Yes. Why?" I replied with my usual bored face. "Im Petra Ral from the special operations squad. I'm here to take you to the castle where we are staying now" she said to me with a smile. "Okay" I replied and got on the horse. "You don't talk much do you? Anyway, you can buy stuff from the market nearby as there is no market near the castle. I'll come with you and leave for the castle when you're done. " Sure" I replied, even if she accused me of not making much conversation already. I just didnt want to make conversations. I went to the market with Petra, bought loads of female toiletries and a lot of books. "You read a lot don't you?" Petra asked with astonishment on her face. "Yeah, I feel like reading is more productive than talking to people because you can learn things from books and you can enjoy them at the same time" I said shutting Petra up. It might seem a bit mean but I wasn't liking the fact that she was poking her nose in everything I did already.

When we reached the castle, I found Eren cleaning the stable. "Hey Eren, how's your teeth?" was the first thing I asked him. "My teeth grew back but I'm having a backache because of that clean freak" Eren muttered with annoyance. "Who are you calling a clean freak brat? You're gonna clean the basement for this." said captain Levi coming from the woods nearby on his horse. I went down from my horse and saluted him while he was getting down. "So you're the new girl. They said you're as good as I am. I want to see if you can keep up with the expectations. Spar with me in 30 minutes. Get cleaned by then you smell like horse shit." he said and went inside the castle. He managed to piss me off but I remained calm. "You are so screwed" said Petra with concern on her face. "Where's the bathroom?" I asked, with my usual straight face but with anger clear in my eyes. "Its on the second floor with our room. It's the room to the right. We are room mates!" she said trying to look excited but failing because I clearly intimidated her. I went to the bathroom taking a shower and replaying all the fighting techniques I learnt from Uncle Erwin during our training sessions. I was a quick learner according to him. When I was done, I dressed in the usual Survey corp uniform and went towards the courtyard exactly 30 minutes later to find Levi on the way. "I see you're very punctual. Atleast I found one good thing in you so far. Let's see how good you are." Levi said with his usual serious face. This is gonna be fun.

To be continued

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Tiana is 5 ft tall, has black eyes, black straight hair as long as Petra's hair, pale skin, petite fjgure. She is very good at aerobics that makes her excellent at sparring. She isnt particularly strong but knows a lot of fighting techniques that allows her to take on someone twice her size. She, with help of Erwin has mastered different ways of fighting, both in offensive and defensive stances, all relying on her agility and is a very quick learner. Her usual facial expression is like the facial expression of Annie Leonheart.


	4. Stronger than the strongest

Levi POV

The other members of the squad gathered to see me spar with the new girl. I've only taken her into my squad because Shadis bragged about how good she was on the combat stimulated graduation test. "If trained by you, she'll be a very efficient titan slayer. However, she seems to work best alone, and when you give her some respect. She strangled a cadet to unconsciousness once for catcalling her. That's the only time she got in trouble with the rules." Shadis explained. I, however, wasn't going to give 'respect' to some privileged cadet who's much younger than I am. He mentioned she's as good as me but I doubt it because she looks like she can barely lift a rock. Her big mouth back at the courtroom didn't improve my views on her either. A weak brat with a big mouth is as shitty as horse shit in a stable. She did have something different about her though. Her eyes, they held the same expression as mine. "Am I judging her wrong?" I thought internally before putting the thought aside because what possibly can happen to a privileged brat who lived all her life up here? Dead parents? That happened to pretty much everyone in the undergrounds. As we reached the middle of the courtyard, I saw her take a defensive stance. "Hmm, that is a pretty good strategy" I thought. This means she wants to access my attacking style before attacking me. But it isn't too easy to predict me. And I threw a kick at her.

Tiana POV

He figured out my plan about the defensive strategy. I could see it in his eyes. His face was expressionless but his eyes gave it away. I understood because I never bring what I feel on my face too. He came close to land a punch but I knew it could be a kick too as he already figured out my plan. I was right and he did through a kick. I caught his leg and tried to twist it so that he would fall down but surprisingly, he just used his other leg to kick at my face. I held it at the last moment but that made him wrap his leg on my neck and throwing me to the ground. He wasn't using any particular fighting technique. He went from offensive to defensive and the other way around in a matter of moments. He made up his moves along the way. Now that I knew his tactics, I took advantage of my aerobics skills and grabbed his neck from behind with my legs as he was over me holding my hands securely and putting a leg on my back so that I couldn't move while I was on the ground with my nose on the floor. As I choked him, he released my hand to remove my feet from his neck. I took the advantage of it and used my hand to remove his leg from my back and slid away from underneath him. However he caught my leg and as I fell down, he pinned my hands with his legs and my legs with his hands. There was only one thing to do now but that made me feel uncomfortable beyond measures. He wouldn't expect this attack in any way because most people in the army were strong but not flexible enough to do this. I had to thank my childhood in the underground for this as the amount of stretching I went through all my childhood made me flexible enough to ace all the aerobic lessons my aerobics instructor threw at me back when I trained with Uncle Erwin. "You privileged brats don't know the importance of survival. All you can do is bark like a street dog, trying to make your whims justified. No wonder you can't win. If you have never seen death right infront of your eyes, you can't take a fight seriously. This is what brats like you should get for trying to act like grownups and interfereing when your superiors are talking" he said with his monotone voice. A flash of memory went through my head. The picture of a darkened room, the blood splattered on the floor, the many hands approaching me. I knew I had to do something.

Levi POV

I had her now. She did put up a good fight but she definitely didn't last too long. Just when I was thinking this, I saw her boots sliding off and her legs shooting out and then she sat on my face. Leaving out the part about how embarrassing it was, that clearly was something I didn't see coming. She pinned my arms and legs with immense speed using her hands and legs because she couldn't hold it alone with her hands. "I surrender" I grunted because my face was being squished. She got up and saluted me. Everyone was staring dumbstruck. I personally was caught aback with that move. She was looking down on the ground trying to hide her face because she probably was blushing. I had to admit she was good. Being able to bend so much without breaking her back was an immense feat. She was second in command material. I saw what Shadis was implying. She doesn't deal with criticism well. Her fight was impressive enough to gain my respect though, even if she was a subordinate. I decided that I would respect her as an equal as that probably would lead her to trust me and help me to train her to make use of her skills in the most efficient way possible. Maybe I judged her wrong because someone with a privileged life wouldn't be able to react like that to a simple sentence... Her name seemed familiar too... "I suppose Shadis wasn't lying. You are really talented. I couldn't have predicted that move but please do try not to sit on people's faces because it's awkward." I said keeping my normal monotone voice. "Sorry sir. This won't happen again" She said, embarrassment clear in her eyes. "You have the quality to be second in command. However, I'll see how good you are on our next expedition and then think about it. You're dismissed. Get me a cup of tea at my office in one hour Petra" I said before going back in the castle to take a shower. The fight made me filthy.

Tiana POV

As embarassing as it was, I won against the strongest soldier of humanity. I was only able to win because he wasn't too tall and I surprised him by sitting on his face. He probably didn't expect a girl to do something like that. Not to mention that my flexibility gave me certain advantages in combat. I wouldn't have won against him otherwise because he's very much stronger than me. Everyone was staring at me and once Levi left, Petra, Eren and three other men came towards me awestruck. "YOU ACTUALLY DEFEATED LEVI HEICHOU!" Petra screamed. "I thought he was gonna kill you" said Eren with a bright expression. "Well, you did pretty good for a rookie though. I'm Oluo Bozado. Call me Oluo" said one of the three men. "I see you will take my post as second in command in no time" said Eld Jinn. I knew him from the newspapers. Eren had gone back to his chores already. It seemed like he was scared of Levi heichou to death. "She clearly deserves to be second in command given that you never won against heichou" said the other man. "Well, Gunther, atleast I didn't piss my pants like Petra and Oluo here when I first saw titans" said Eld. "It wasn't anything notable. I have much to learn." I answered to them. "Oh come on! Don't be so sour! Lighten up a bit!" Petra laughed, invading my personal space by hugging me out of nowhere. Did she really not get the message that I don't like people around me? "Well, I'll take a shower" I muttered before leaving. I made my contribution to the conversation and went to the bathroom.

After washing my body, I took a blade in my hand as usual and started making clean strokes on my back. Tears streamed from my eyes as my back was bleeding from the not-too-deep wounds but I didnt make any sound. This was my way to cope with my demons. This reminded of my childhood. Being hurt was what I was born for and I liked it. The things Levi heichou told me triggered every emotions all at once. I wanted to kill him for denying the fact that I faced all those things that no one should face. I wanted to get rid of the whole squad for being so damn noisy and getting in my personal space. I needed the pain to calm down. "It hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts..." my mind kept muttering like it did every day back in the underground. "I'm alive Im alive Im alive Im alive..." my mind consoled me with every stroke of the blade. This helped me keep my sanity back in the underground. As long as I was alive and I felt the pain, I would be alright. "Ugh these disgusting food will give me constipation like Levi Heichou. No wonder he looks like someone slapped him all the time" I heard Petra's voice and before I could do anything, the door of the bathroom opened and Petra saw me. She looked petrified to see me naked, crying and bloody and she ran to try to take the blade from me but I kicked her in the stomach and pushed her out of the bathroom and locked the door. "Damn it, I shouldn't have forgotten to lock" I thought. Petra called me for a while after I asked her to mind her own business and then she left the room. By then I bandaged my back as usual and was cleaning the blood off the washroom when I heard a loud banging of the door and Corporal Levi's voice saying "Open the damn door brat!". I hid the blade and got dressed quickly and opened the door. " Petra told me that you were cutting your back. Is that true?" he asked firmly. "Yes but it's not her damn business to poke her nose into everything I do" I replied with a cold glare at Petra which made her flinch. "What's your name Cadet?" Levi heichou asked with pure anger in his eyes. "Tiana Hertz Sir." I replied with a calm voice. "And where are you from?" he asked with the same expression. "From Shiganshina District Sir." I replied. Some sort of realization spreaded across his eyes. He turned to Petra and surprisingly, he only asked her to give me some antiseptic cream and he left. Petra did what he told but kept giving me a sympathetic look. "Petra, stop with that pitying look that you're giving me. I don't need it" I told her while we were making lunch together. "I'm sorry." she replied but didn't stop with the sympathetic looks. I decided to let it slide. I didn't talk much at lunch except for when Eld asked me about my graduation results. They were mostly busy talking to themselves about how I beat Levi heichou until Levi heichou himself arrived and all of them shutted their mouths. After lunch, Oluo and Gunther were doing the dishes and I took a new book from my bag and went near the pond behind the castle to read it. The stairs of the bank was clean. Levi heichou probably made Eren clean it. "I see you're into reading too" I heard Levi heichou's voice. I stood up and saluted. He nodded and sat on the stairs too. "You can sit cadet" he said in his monotone voice. I sat at my place glad that he kept a good distance from me. "Are you the girl who killed that Garrison member? " heichou asked without looking at me. "Yes sir." I replied calmly. I should've expected this to come up. "I read that book. It's a good one" he said, again with his usual monotone voice but that sentence made me blush. Levi heichou reads romance books with machoism in it? "You probably would like the book more as it is from a girl's point of view. After all, you do seem to cut yourself" he said. "It's not like that, heichou. I suppose cutting myself reminds me that I'm alive and I can make everything right. I feel like this book portrays it well because as long as you feel pain, you can feel happiness. When you stop feeling it, you're either dead or too numb to feel anything. I honestly would like to keep feeling because when someone is numbed, all that's left for them is to die." I answered. "I've heard something similar to that. About having no regrets. I suppose you can only have regrets when you're numb as you wouldn't have anything to live for. So, I guess that makes sense." he replied. "Heichou, please don't mind me asking, but, why are you alive?" my mouth blurted out. "Well, honestly, I don't know. Probably because humanity needs me and I probably am making a difference? I don't know really." he answered vaguely. "So, is it pride that's keeping you alive?" I asked him. "No. It's not. You could say, I'm alive because if I can make a contribution to eradicate the titans, I will feel worthy of having a normal life." he answered. It was strange that he talked to me so freely. Is it because I gained his respect by that fight? "So, you want to make things right for yourself and the feeling of worth is what makes you remember that you are alive and well enough to do that." I stated. "Yes. That's it." he replied. With that he started reading another book. After a while I was ensured that he won't make anymore conversation and so I got immersed into my own book.

A week later

Levi heichou decided to train me personally after my first day at his squad. He told me that I had potential but I wasn't doing things right and just agility won't get me anywhere thus, I need to build my strength. Yesterday, Levi heichou found me cleaning the stables as he ordered me to do so after I spilled a cup of tea on him and apparantly my cleaning was close to flawless and thus, I was excused from every other cleaning duties and I was assigned with cleaning his office daily. "I take back everything I said about you getting out of work, Tiana. You just got handed with a death sentence." Eren told me last night at dinner time. "Just don't argue with him when he shouts at you. Answer with 'yes heichou' only." Petra chimed in. "You'll get kicked out of the squad now for sure" Oluo snorted while the others merely gave me pityful looks. "I don't know... It didn't seem too bad when he criticized the way I cleaned the stable... Heichou even helped out to clean the spots I missed." I answered, confused with their statements. "Huh? Levi Heichou shouted at me to clean the stable again during my first time... And he made me do it three times..." Eren answered, quiet surprised. "You must be really good at it then..." Petra muttered, sounding quiet jealous for no reason. "I suppose I am..." I muttered, eating a spoonful of stew, remembering all the practice I had cleaning.

I knocked on the door to Levi heichou's office to hear his monotoned voice shout out, "state your name and business.". " It's Cadet Hertz. I'm here for cleaning duties." I told him before he answered me with a "come in". I enteted his office with a bucket full of water in one hand, a mop, a broom, a brush and a soap in another, and a dish cloth on my shoulder. Heichou was right, I need to work on building my strength because I felt like my hand was getting torn off by the weight of the huge filled bucket. The buckets in this place were too big to be honest. "You look like you're about to die. Aren't you practicing the exercises that I told you about?" Heichou asked me in an irritated voice as he approached me and snatched the bucket from my hand and placed it infront of a window. I didn't get any time to practice those exercises because...well, I was slacking off due to all the new books in my room. "Sorry, Heichou. I will pay more attention in training from now." I answered, with a speck of guilt in my voice because I didn't join the military to slack off. Heichou didn't reply to that and went back to his desk to continue his paperworks. I started with cleaning the window, using the brush and soap to clean the windowsill. It didn't take too long as the place was pretty clean. Then I moved on to the furnitures, using water from the bucket to get the dirt off. I cleaned all the furnitures in silence except the desk, as I thought that disturbing Levi heichou wasn't a good idea. Then I used the brush to start scrubbing the floor. Just like I used to do back in the underground. "People usually start with the mop but I prefer what you're doing." I heard heichou comment. "Thank you." I replied and continued scrubbing. "Where did you learn to clean?" he asked me after a few moments. The question stopped me momentarily but I answered, "Back in the underground." "I see. Seems like people from the underground are better at cleaning than the ones up here. Talk about irony." Heichou scoffed. "I believe that they don't have that need to clean because they take the cleanliness for granted." I replied, not taking my concentration off from scrubbing. "You're right." Heichou answered. After a few more moments, I heard him say, "Back when I was a kid, I had the fortune to spend a whole day in a room with a corpse in it. It started to smell at the end and I decided that I would not tolerate filth ever again because it reminds me of rotting corpses.". Did he just share a childhood experience with me? Why would he do that? Is it because we both have similar backgrounds? These thoughts filled my head for a moment before I remembered that I never talked about my childhood with anyone. I never did it because I didn't expect anyone to understand. I assumed that they would think I'm a freak. Is that how Levi heichou felt too? If that's the case, maybe letting some burden off my chest by talking to him won't hurt. Ofcourse, I wouldn't tell him everything about myself but a random experience won't hurt. "How much do you know about me?" I asked him. He seemed to be surprised by the question. "You were rescued from a brothel in the underground and you killed a guy from the garrison. Why do you ask?" he asked me. "Well, when I was a kid, I was locked into this room by the pimp. It had this small window on top of the wall that I couldn't reach. Almost no light came out of that window and I used to sit on that speck of light as I was scared of the darkness. So, the pimp came in that room with a lamp every day to clean up the mess and I used to take as much time as possible to clean as I wanted the light to stay there as long as possible. I guess, that's what gave me my habbit to clean. Oh, and about that question, I asked it to determine how much I can tell you." I answered, not looking up from the floor. "You used to live at a brothel? I didn't know... I'm sorry about that. I grew up in a brothel too." Heichou told me, his eyes showing that he understood me. However, he didn't understand. No one here could. "I'm sorry too. Because you had to go through that. Being around a corpse doesn't feel good." I answered quietly. Thus, with that, a friendly relationship with heichou began, as we would talk every day when I came to clean his room, each time finding out that we understood eachother more than anyone ever could.

To be continued


	5. A dark past

Tiana POV

The 57th expedition is two days from now and to make things worse, Hanji came over. She declared that as it is our only titan shifter's first expedition, we will be drinking tonight to celebrate. Although her motive was to experiment if Eren can get drunk, heichou strictly denied her requests because Eren is underage. I personally didn't want to drink because those men from when I was 5 were always drunk. "Drunk people are bad and dangerous" was a thought that was fixed into my head. I was planning to avoid their little party at all costs. It was morning and time for breakfast. I made tea for everyone as I woke up before everyone else, 2 spoons of sugar and milk in Oluo, Gunther and Petra's, 1 spoon in Eld's, 3 spoons in mine and sugarless for Levi heichou. Eren didn't like tea. By now I was used to how everyone drank their tea because I tend to wake up before everyone else and I always get the breakfast duty. I made pancakes for everyone and when I was done, I poured my tea in a cup and started reading the book I started on that day when Levi heichou first accompanied me while reading. He would sit with his own book and tea too. We would discuss the contents of the books when I would go to clean his room. We would also share some of our personal issues to eachother and I don't know about him but it helped me quite a lot. Just as I was thinking these, he entered the dining hall as usual and took his cup which was already poured by me. Eventually everyone else came around thus making it impossible to read because of the commotion. Hanji started blabbing about her experiments. Yes, she arrived yesterday and stayed the night in a spare room. After breakfast, it was time for practice for the expedition. Levi heichou was giving me intensive 3DMG training recently as I passed his strength trainings. We sparred more later, to test how much I had improved my strength and he won most of them due to his immense strength which is impossible to match but I gave him a hard time though. In case of 3DMG, he decided that I wasn't making enough use of my agility and that I should be able to match his speed and accuracy. I was still learning his spinning move as I couldn't get a hang of that anyway. Today, we were supposed to have our last practice session as most of us will have hangovers the next day. Not me though. I'll just lock myself in mine and Petra's room. I've noticed by time that Petra tried to impress Levi heichou a lot. It kinda pissed me off because who even looks for emotional attachment when they might die anytime? And it's not like heichou was interested in her anyway. That's another thing I liked about him. He was serious about his career. I always respect determination and I feel like there can't be a better mentor than him. However, something was bothering me about it. Levi heichou was making me feel things I never felt before. It started with the way he looks during our training sessions, no, all the time honestly. I started having these urges to touch those muscles beneath his shirt, that showed slightly when he was sweaty after training, his clean shaven and extremely smooth looking cheeks and that extremely soft and silky looking hair. God knows how it would feel to run my fingers in there... Yes, that's exactly the problem. I shouldn't be thinking these. Things escalated when he convinced me to stop cutting myself, something even my parents couldn't do. It happened a week back.

One week ago

I was cleaning the floor in Levi's room while he was getting his paperwork done. "So, the protagonist is in a situation where he couldn't blame the antagonist as the antagonist had reasons to justify what they did too. It kinda resembles our world too right? I mean, titans don't have minds so, they can't really control what they are doing..." I was talking to heichou about the book I recently finished. "Hmm. However, one has to do what one needs right? The protagonist killed the antagonist at the end. It didn't matter if the antagonist had justification for what he did. It depends on who wins at the end. If the antagonist did, then the antagonist would've been portrayed as the protagonist." heichou answered, not looking up from his paperworks. "Yeah. It's the weak who always loses." I muttered. "Not always. One can start off as weak but get stronger. That's what people who want to live does." Levi answered to that, before stopping for a moment and saying, "You mentioned that you want to live to make things right didn't you? What is right for you?". " I don't know, happiness? That's my goal." I answered. "Well, that's what we all want. Anyway, what's your plan to achieve that?" he asked. "I don't know, it started with getting strong enough to take care of myself but I don't really have an aim now." I answered, acknowledging it for the first time. "If you want happiness so much, why do you cut yourself? As much as I can recall, you told me, you did that to remind yourself that you're alive. If you don't have a plan, why remain alive at all?" he asked me, looking up from his paper works at me, raising an eyebrow. "Well, that's true... I don't know what I'm doing to be honest... Being alive honestly is pointless." I muttered as an answer. It was the truth. I had no reason to live. "Oi brat, take my advice on this, you're an extremely skilled soldier. You think I am itching to be alive? I have a goal to be happy too and the fastest way towards it is a bullet in my fucking head. But, there's also another way, that is using my strength to do something for humanity, getting this war over for good and opening up a tea shop. My plan in this case is to stay alive and keep fighting. I suggest you to have the same plan. When this war is over if you are still alive, these people you saved will make a way for you. And trust me, cutting yourself won't help you at all because that only limits your agility as, trust me, I've got into enough fights to know how much a cut hurts. It may not affect your performance by a lot but a mimimum percentage of performance issues can get you killed in expeditions. So I suggest you to stop with that shit and get your priorities straight." heichou advised me with a straight face. "So, you suggest me to try my best to survive? If I can get through this war, then the people will help me make a way?" I asked before pausing for a moment and stating, "I honestly didn't join the survey corps to make some dead people proud of me. I just wanted to die I guess..."."Well then, you're at an advantage both ways. If you die, you get to your goal. If you live, you get to your goal in long term too." he answered. "Heichou, why did you join the survey corps?" I asked him out of curiosity. "Well, Erwin blackmailed me into it at the begining but later, I decided that my life was meaningless too and decided to do exactly what I advised you to do." he answered. He was right. If I survive, after the war with titans are over and the survey corps are disbanded, I'm sure they will give us all a way to live. However, will I always be alone? What's the point of living like that? No, wait, Uncle Erwin will be there... He's as good as family, so I'll be fine. Atleast as long as he lives. Maybe I'll even consider marriage... There are so many possibilities... Heichou was right. I had to survive or die in combat. Its good both ways. "Tiana, if you really want to remember that you're alive at times, instead of cutting yourself, remember your interactions with your comrades. I'm sure you made an affect on a lot of them and you wouldn't be able to do that if you weren't alive." Levi ended his statement with that as I was leaving his room after cleaning. "Yes heichou. Thank you for the advice" I answered before leaving. An affect on my comrades, did he mean the way I intimidated them? But doesn't that mean that I'm an emotionless piece of shit? Or was he talking about my conversations with him? Did I make him feel alive? Because, even if I hated to admit it, he made me feel alive. I don't have to hurt myself anymore.

Present day

Levi heichou beat me this time too after we sparred for 30 minutes. No one lasts that long against him. During the 3DMG session, everything was going well until suddenly captain Levi attacked me. He came out of nowhere and tried to cut me but I instinctively dodged and tried to escape him. I was shocked as I didn't expect something like that. He was as fast as I am in 3DMG and with his special techniques, he was faster. He slashed his blade against me again and to block it I used my own blade but the blade broke. I was scared that he might kill me and thats when he said that he was testing how well I'd do in unexpected situations and he wasn't happy enough with my skills.

Levi POV

She was pretty good at running away but she used one blade at the wrong angle when I slashed my blade at her. Ofcourse she didnt learn about what angle to use because Shadis didn't know some of the tricks I learnt underground. However I expected her to use two blades. That's just common sense and the fact that she panicked in a situation like this is unacceptable for someone as skilled as her. She has a lot if potential but stupid decisions like that will get her killed. "Do you have a brain of the size of a pea brat? Anyone with common sense would use two blades. Are you trying to get killed in any unexpected circumstance? " I shouted at her. She kept a straight face but I could see the embarrassment in her eyes. Serves her right. "Sorry heichou. It won't happen again" she said with determination. I'm not usually too hard on her because she doesn't disappoint me often so I let it go. I taught her the angles she should use. It would make her blades last longer. She practiced with complete determination but failed to get the spinning move done. Honestly, no one I trained was able to do that, so, I didnt' judge her. However, she wasn't the one to give up. I respected that about her as a mentor. It was time for lunch and Petra already cooked stew. We had lunch and I saw her head upstairs and come down with her 3DMG and blades. "Oi where are you going?" I asked her. "To practice the blade angle and the movements you taught me. I want to be able to get the spinning move perfected." she answered, saluted and left. I didn't expect her to be able to do it. I went to my office to complete some paperwork and after about 2 hours, I heard the sound of her falling down with a thump and occasionally, frustrated cursing. I went to the window and saw Tiana falling on her face every time she tried but getting up to do the same nonetheless. "Damn, this girl will kill herself at this rate." I thought and felt a bit proud about being her mentor. I looked at her graceful moves through the air, which turned into a complete disaster whenever she tried to use the spinning move on the titan dummy. "There must be some problem with her balancing" I thought. I found her beautiful the day I first saw her. "Just another pretty face that's gonna be titan food" I thought. After she sparred with me and sat on my face, I think I blushed for the first time ever. I didn't let anyone see though because it's inappropriate. Now that I see her potential and determination, she seems more than just another pretty face. She is what I'd call beautiful. I knew she deserved a normal life but she chose this uncertain life where death my come and where its impossible to have a family. She is a very brave person. I know some stuff about her past. How she was rescued from a brothel before being sold off in the underground. How she killed a Garrison member but was let out because she was a minor. I was curious about her given that I was from the underground too. As these thoughts plagued my mind, I suddenly understood exactly what was causing the problems with the balancing.

"Oi brat. Get down here." I called Tiana out, who was sitting on a tree, about to do the spinning move again. When she got down, I noticed that she got some minor cuts on her face. Atleast her instincts were good enough to make her use her hands to prevent her face from getting hit. "Yes heichou?" she asked, confused. "I have a fair idea about why you can't get that move done. Your body proportions are what's causing this." I told her with a calm voice even if talking about it made me uncomfortable. "I don't understand..." she muttered, clearly confused. "Your breasts are what's causing the issues. My body structure allows me to distribute all my weight at the correct points but as your body structure is different, the distribution gets disoriented as your breasts are the weights that make you slouch forward easily." I explained as calmly as possible. This was awkward. I saw a blush slowly creep upon Tiana's cheeks as she muttered, "But they aren't too big...". " Well, the simplest errors can make it impossible to master this move. I'm not sure if you can do it but try using bandages to bind you chest and make the surface as flat as possible." I answered with a stoic expression, which was very hard to bring given that I have never talked to cadets about their breasts, and the fact that this particular cadet made me want to rip her clothes off didn't help at all. "Hai!" Tiana answered before running off towards the castle.

She actually did it. It didn't take any effort at all. I was right about the problems with body proportions. Tiana came back after a while with an almost flat chest. It didn't look comfortable at all because she looked like someone punched her on the face. I, however, was impressed by her determination. And, the fact that she was able to get the spinning move done at one try. Ofcourse, it wasn't perfect, it had many flaws, but, it was an amazing feat as no one else was able to get this done. However, I knew that this wouldn't work well with her because being uncomfortable on an expedition isn't an option. "Oi, get down" I commaded her as she got down from the tree, pleased with herself. "Yes heichou?" she asked. "You won't be using this move. You're not feeling comfortable in bandages and that's as obvious as it can get. Just make use of the speed training we went through." I advised her. "Yes heichou!" she answered and as she was going off towards the castle, I spoke up, "Oi Tiana! You did well.". "Thank you heichou" she answered, giving me a rare smile. She really should smile more often.

Tiana POV

I came back being pleased with myself after getting a rare compliment from Levi heichou, after some very intense and not to mention, painful training, 2 hours 30 minutes later. I went back to Petra and my room to find Petra sleeping. I took a shower and went to take a nap. I was asleep but I was woken by feeling someone drag me out of the bed. I woke up and saw Hanji dragging me out. I tried to get out of her grab but Petra and Eren also held me firmly. I couldve gotten away from Hanji easily but I couldn't fight with three people grabbing onto me. The brought me downstairs and Levi heichou was there too with a glass of alcohol in his hand. I was shocked to find him here and looked at Hanji and she explained that she dragged heichou out here so that he won't drink alone in his room, in Hanji's words, like a sad excuse of a human. Apparently he drunk alone before expeditions. No matter how hard I tried to avoid drinking, Hanji was relentless. I had to drink a few sips of beer. As the alcohol started kicking in, Hanji convinced heichou to have a drinking contest. I had to admit that the alcohol made me feel light headed and more confident. I liked the feeling despite the horrible taste. I drank the whole can then and one more can. Then I remembered that my body weight was not enough to take it all but my head started spinning by then and I was slipping on and off my consciousness.

Levi POV

Hanji thought that she would win because she was taller but she didn't know about my high alcohol tolerance. After 2 cans, Hanji was done. After all, it was the ones with 16% alcohol and she had lower alcohol tolerance than I imagined. I had one more can and I won naturally. I was pretty drunk and thought it's best to go to bed. Before I got up, Tiana puked. Everyone was a bit surprised as they didn't notice her taking on two cans like an idiot. Since no one was sober enough to get her up to her room, I knew I had to do it "Tch! They had to get wasted now." Eren was up sleeping as he wasn't allowed to drink. "Ofcourse she puked. She didn't come for dinner" I remembered. "Petra, get Eren to clean this mess up. I'm taking her upstairs and you're coming with me to clean her" I said with authority to a tipsy Petra. I took her to the bathroom in their room and made her sit on the floor. She was barely conscious. I waited outside for Petra to be done washing and dressing her so that I can pick her and put her to bed. Petra called me when she was done. I picked her and put her to bed while she was washing her clothes.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Tiana's past will be said now. It includes rape and underage sexual acts so don't read if it bothers you. Skip to the next chapter in that case.

"Heichou?" she called out weakly before I left. "What brat?" I asked keeping my usual bored face. "The first day we met, didn't you tell me that I'm a privileged brat? How does it feel to know that the only thing your prostitute mother told you is that youre born to do exactly what she does? How does it feel when those men do things to your mother and all you can do is sit in the room and read a book to pretend nothing is happening? How does it feel when those drunk men touch you, do things that they did to your mother and hurt you like your body is splitting? How does it feel to know that your mother left you to these people and that you'll never see her again? How does it feel to be hit and cut by these men? How does it feel not being given water unless you drink the semen of those people? How does it feel when you gladly do it because you are so thirsty? You don't know anything about the life I had, heichou. When they told me I'm safe after taking me out of that horrible place, I believed them and I regret it because that man I killed wanted to do the same things I went through in that hell. He told me that I shouldn't mind because he assumed I did it before. I enjoyed slitting his throat and gauging his eyes out. You knew nothing heichou " she said with tears in her eyes. I looked shocked at her sudden confession. I had no idea that she still remembered what I told her that day. I had no idea it hurted her feelings to that extent. Besides, as much as I knew, she never said anything about herself to the court or anyone. As much as I knew, she didn't talk in her court case about murdering that man. She only did it for self defense. I looked at the weeping girl. She was a brave soldier and seeing her break down like that upsetted me. It made me do something that I never did for anyone before. I sat on the edge of her bed, took her hand and said "Now you know how to fight. No one can hurt you now. You can trust yourself and if you want, you can trust me. I'm sorry about my behaviour that day. I shouldn't have judged you without taking a closer look." She gave me a shocked look after I said that. I gave her a small smile, and left the room. This was the first time I smiled after years.

To be continued


	6. Friendship and hatred

Levi POV

She confessed about how her past was last night. About how her mother sold her off to prostitution at such a young age. About the fact that she killed that Garrison member because he tried to have his way with her. She was just a victim of circumstances. She never talked about these to the court or to Mr and Mrs Hertz or Erwin. I was baffled by her sudden confession which made me do something as stupid as holding her hand and saying that she's strong enough to trust herself and that she can trust me if she wants and I smiled at her. As stupid as it sounds, it was required at that time. I assumed I should ask her if I can talk about it to Erwin because that could help her get rid of her criminal record. That would help her out if she ever retires given that she survives. I was willing to bet that she will survive given that she is really skilled. I was thinking all these while making breakfast. Yes, I woke up first today. I made some mushroom soup and was pouring tea into cups when Tiana came downstairs with her book. She looked hung over. "Oi brat, how much sugar do you need?" she looked at me, blushed and tried to hide it and failed and said in a low voice "three teaspoons". " At this rate you will die of diabetes before the titans get to you" I said with a straight face while mixing sugar in her tea. She sat quietly waiting. As I passed her tea to her, I asked "Do you remember anything from last night?" She was blushing again and said "Yes heichou." "It's okay that you shared those to me. I grew up in the underground too. I won't judge you for your past." I told her as I took a sip of my own tea. She didn't read books as she usually does. "I feel like you deserve to know more about my past too as you trusted me enough to talk about yours" I blurted out. Wait, why did I say that? This was completely unnecessary but I felt like I owed it to her. She looked at me with curiosity. "My mother was a prostitute too in the underground. However, she loved me. Unfortunately, she got sick and died when I was a kid. That's when a guy named Kenny took me with him. He taught me how to fight and survive in the underground. I was a thug before Erwin recruited me. I killed people for money and I don't think I regret it." I told her, looking straight at her eyes. She looked down at her tea when I was done. "I don't judge you either. Sometimes killing people for your own benefit can be justified. You needed the money to survive. I needed his hands and eyes off me." she said quietly. I didn't know what to say to that. She might have been the first person to understand that. The only other people to understand it were Farlan and Isabel. After an awkward silence, she spoke again "You wondered how I started cutting myself didn't you? You see, the two years in that brothel made me what I am. The customers used to hit me and cut me and I got used to it. After going through that for so long, I started doing that on my own because, well, I told this to you before that it made me think that I'm alive as long as I feel the pain and that's why I do it." she told me while looking down at her hands. "I assumed it before." I told her. "Anyway, let's not dwell on things that happened." she said with a smile. That must be the second time I saw her smile. She should smile more often.

Tiana POV

I didn't expect to hear about Levi heichou's past. It shocked me. I knew that he was an underground thug but knowing that he was born in a brothel too like myself was really shocking. Other people filled in the kitchen/ dining room after a while. I noticed Petra glancing at me with a weird look on her face but I didn't give much attention to it. When I was done having breakfast, I went back to the training grounds with Levi heichou as I decided that slacking off even for a day won't be good for n expedition. Other than that, I just had this immense need to prove myself to Levi heichou. I didn't know why but I just wanted him to look at me and say that he is proud. Last day, he did tell that to me and I don't know how to express the feeling that came along in me. I never felt this way after getting a compliment before. All I knew was that I wanted more of that feeling. The look on heichou's face when I told him that I want to train made me feel that again. Sure, his expression was as stoic as ever but his eyes glinted with approval and that was enough to give me the motivation to forget about the splitting headache and go train. The thing is, I had never gotten such solid approval before. My parents told me that I always did a good job cleaning but their expression told me that they weren't too happy when I accidentally got all the colour off their clothes trying to make them clean. In my defence, I found ways to clean clothes without getting all their colour off later. Uncle Erwin used to tell me that I did a great job when I lasted for a few minutes against him on sword fights. However, we both knew that I wasn't good enough. He just gave up on me. With heichou, it's completely different. He would criticize me till I got something right. He would point out every flaw till I'm perfect. He would only acknowledge my work when I do it flawlessly. He didn't say that my spinning move was perfect. He just appreciated the effort. Getting his appreciation meant a lot because he never tried to make me happy with myself by faking it. The others didn't have training today because we all were hung over. Heichou and I both had our 3DMGs on and he followed me as I cut the titan dummy's napes. I had gotten faster as heichou pointed out all the flaws in my usage of 3DMG.

Two weeks back

"Oi brat! You're wasting my time by making all those shitty unnecessary moves ! Get down here!" Levi heichou shouted at me. This was the first time anyone thought my 3DMG skills weren't good enough. I was glad to accept any advice from him though. After all, he is the strongest of humanity. "Sorry heichou." I answered before I got down. "I'll show you how it's done. Follow me. Take a note of everything I do because you need to use these in practical scenarios." he told me before flying off with me following him. He cut down the same titan dummy with three shots from his 3DMG while I took 7. "This way, you get your work done faster and preserve gas too. You need to use your eyes and analyse every single move you can make and make the most efficient move. It all comes with practice. Go keep doing it without a break till you come down to 5 shots." he instructed me. I trained till dinner that day and wasn't able to go any down than 6 shots.

Present day

Now, I was the only one in the whole army who was nearly as fast as heichou. Ofcourse, he was much more skilled than I am, with his special spinning moves, that I was able to imitate but wasn't exactly suited for me. Heichou followed me as I used the most efficient of moves, cutting down all 10 dummies in less than 7 minutes. "Woah... Now that was as good as heichou!" Gunther exclaimed as I landed on the ground. He was on dummy movement duty. "No. I still have a long way to be as good as heichou." I muttered. Yes, heichou would do it in less than 5 minutes. I still was lagging behind. "You made outstanding improvement though in just a month. Erwin and Shadis were'nt giving me any bullshit when he told me to look into your files. You ofcourse have a lot of room for improvement. You still make unnecessary movements. I believe it will improve with training and experience. Get some rest now before cleaning duties." heichou commanded me. "Hai!" I saluted before running off to my room. "Oi Gunther! Get Oluo and fix those dummy napes." I heard Levi heichou command Gunther. "Heichou! But I don't feel so good..." Gunther tried to get out of work but heichou stopped him and said, "Gunther, Petra has cleaning duties for the castle. Eld is helping me with paperwork. Hanji is experimenting on Eren and Tiana is the only one among you all to take training seriously and she has cleaning duties in 30 minutes too. Did I keep you and Oluo in my squad to slack off? I will send Oluo on my way". His monotoned voice was full of superiority and thus Gunther went to the supply room to get the dummy napes with his head down. I went back to my room and took a short nap.

A while later, I got up and went to heichou's office to get done with my cleaning duties. When I opened the door, I saw something that made my heart sink.

Levi POV

I was getting done with my paperworks. Tiana is supposed to come and clean my office after a while. That girl was really good at cleaning. Sure, I had to point out the dirty spots she missed but she never complained. I never imagined someone like that could exist because it seemed like everyone was fed up with my cleanliness. Suddenly, I heard my door open. "She's 10 minutes early" I thought. I looked up from the huge pile of papers and saw Petra instead of Tiana. "What are you doing here?" I asked. "Heichoul, I need to talk to you about something" she mumbled. "Go on?" I asked as I noticed that she didn't wear the usual Survey corps uniform. She was wearing a short innocent looking dress. "What's going on in her mind now?" I wondered. I wasn't in the mood to talk to her now, given that I had a headache after last night's drinking. I was expecting a good conversation with Tiana, presumably about our past because I felt the need to know how similar we were. It seemed that I did things that were out of character with her but she just gave me an excitement that I never felt."Are you dating Tiana?" she mumbled again looking down on the floor. That simple question seemed to jerk me out of my thoughts and throw a punch at my face. "What? No. Why would I date her?" I answered in shock. Her face lit up when I said that. What in the actual fuck was she thinking? "I always was interested in you, heichou" she told me and as she did, she was coming closer. I was in shock. I never had to face anything like this before so I froze. I had a fair idea that she was into me, as she constantly nagged at me, trying to be helpful, mostly emotionally and failing because I had no intention to talk to her about my shitty ass past. "Everything is so different now, we have a titan shifter on our team, and I thought I lost you to Tiana..." she said as she was too close to me. I didnt like what was happening and just before I told her to back off, she kissed me just as the door opened and Tiana stood there with a shocked face.

Tiana POV

Levi heichou and Petra were kissing. As soon as I saw it, I closed the door and ran towards my room. I felt tears running down my face as I went for the bathroom. I closed the bathroom door and started cutting myself again. Why didn't he say me about him and Petra? I told him every single secret I ever had. Why did watching them hurt so much? But then again, I had no right to be hurt. It's my fault that I told him. He had every right to keep secrets. But it still hurted. I tried to make deep cuts so that the physical pain would drown the emotional pain. It didn't work too well. "Well, Tiana. You knew it all along didn't you? You knew that Uncle Erwin won't live forever. You knew that the next step in your dream for happiness was having a family. You knew that you fell in love with Levi heichou as you kept talking to him every single day about your views. You wanted him to return the feelings and you were fooled by his politeness." my mind summed up the situation. I knew that I had to supress my emotions. I had to be strong and follow the plan that heichou mentioned. I had to stop hurting myself. With that, I decided that I shouldn't cut myself anymore because I had an expedition the next day. I bandaged myself up and got out of the bedroom to find Petra sitting on my bed. "We need to talk" she said me with a glare. I couldn't see the sweetness that I encountered numerous times when I first joined the survey corps.

Levi POV

I pushed Petra away but Tiana stormed off already. Great. Now I'll have to explain things to her. I don't want any new rumour to spread and for some unknown reason, I felt guilty for the whole thing. It was a weird feeling. I saw the pain in her eyes. This hurted her feelings for some reason and I didn't want her to be hurt. Maybe because I felt bad about her past. "I'm not interested in you Petra. Please don't do this again because you already made things awkward. You're a talented soldier and it would be bad for the squad if I have to transfer you." I told Petra calmly but coldly. "You love her don't you? Ofcourse. I'm sorry." Petra told me with tears in her eyes but there was a certain anger in her voice. It's best if you go now. You embarassed youself enough" I told her, being colder than I intended to be. Why did I react this way to a simple assumption that she made? After dismissing her, I planned to see Tiana and explain things to her but as Petra walked out, Erwin walked in and said " Levi, we have things to discuss about the expedition tommorow". Why did I feel so worried about what Tiana might think? Why do I feel the need to explain myself? I should be allowed to kiss whoever I want but why do I feel this guilt? I got stuck in a meeting with Erwin but in the back of my mind, what Petra said kept ringing. Am I in love with Tiana?

Tiana POV

"What do you want Petra?" I asked her calmly even if thousands of thoughts were dashing through in my head. I'm not the only one who he said his past to. He must have told her. Why did I say him my secret? Why did I expect to be as special as I made him? What was I thinking? I had no right to have any expectations from him. Its all my fault. I shouldn't have fallen in love with him. " Stay away from Levi, Tiana. He's my boyfriend. If I see you alone with him again, trust me, you'll regret it." Petra said as she glared at me. "I don't have anything to do with Levi heichou, Petra. You don't have to act like the jealous girlfriend." I said calmly even if her words hurted me for some unknown reason. "Really Tiana? You seriously think I didn't notice the special treatment he gives you? He punishes you the least among everyone else. He actually talks to you a lot about God knows what! He even trains you personally! He...he smiled at you that day when you made a...a fucking mess and puked everywhere! You really think I don't know that you wake up that early just to talk to him? And I won't even get started with how you snagged his office's cleaning duties! No one was allowed to clean his office except himself! You're the only cadet that he actually treated as his equal! Listen, I know what you're doing here. You're trying to use your worthless sob story about the underground to steal him from me! I saw the look in your face when you saw us kissing! You love him. Don't you dare come between us Tiana!" she shouted at me. I never expected Petra to act like that. "I don't have time for your bullshit." I told her coldly, took my book and got out of that room to the pond.

The next day after half the expedition was over:

We were going into the woods. There was an uncomfortable silence between Petra and I and, Levi didn't talk much either except for giving commands. Oluo bit his tongue already. Suddenly, I heard heavy footsteps. A titan was coming towards us. Our horses ran fast but I saw a faster different looking titan running towards us. Eren, as usual started shouting but Levi heichou remained silent. I assumed that he had a plan, mormore accurately, he was probably trying to use us as bait for that titan. It seemed interested in Eren as i tried to grab him a couple of times. Were they thinking about capturing it? The titan looked like a female. Titans usually look like males and thus, as this titan looked so different, and the fact that it seemed to have a mission to get Eren, I assumed that it was a titan shifter, like Eren. After listening to Eren shout for a while, Levi heichou asked Eren to make a decision and Petra was asking Eren to trust heichou like the typical nosy girlfriend. "Petra is Levi heichou's girlfriend", this thought made my stomach turn. I shouldn't feel like this. As my mind was filled with thoughts of decapitating Petra because she was annoying, the titan almost caught up with us but got showered by a lot of harpoons. They caught the titan.

Levi POV

Tiana didn't say a word during the whole expedition. She never talks much but the silence between her and Petra was too intense to not notice. " Did Petra do something stupid?" I thought. Petra usually always tried to make a conversation with her. Yesterday must have changed something. "You love her don't you?" Petra's voice rang in my head. Do I? Even if I do, I can't show it to her. My loved ones always seem to die. After the female titan was caught, I sent Tiana and the squad away from there with Eren. I didn't want them in harm's way. The logical thing to do would be to make Tiana stay because of her high potential but I didn't want her near me for now. I was confused about what Petra said. I couldn't believe I was even considering it.

To be continued


	7. Loss

Tiana POV

They caught the female titan. As I thought, Levi heichou had a plan. It was a shame that others didn't know about it and so many lives were lost because of that but I suppose that had to happen. After all, sacrifices like that were normal in the survey corps. We were moving far from the captured titan with Eren and the others when suddenly we heard a huge unearthly roar. "What the hell is that?" I thought. Everyone else were equally surprised. A while passed and Oluo was talking to Eren about how the team should be trusted when we got a signal from Levi heichou to go back to his position. The expedition had ended. As we were flying back, Eld was talking to Eren about how Oluo and Petra pissed their pants on their first expedition as he didn't hear about it the last time Eld mentioned it. Petra and I didn't make eye contact or talked the whole day. Not that I wanted to talk to her anyway. I felt.. Jealous? Maybe not jealous but totally annoyed because she came at me out of nowhere the last day. But yeah, I totally felt something against her. Who am I kidding? I feel jealous and I wish she would just die somewhere. Suddenly Gunther spotted Levi heichou flying towards us. We took a look at the figure and I could immediately tell it wasn't him. The figure was a lot more feminine. Then it killed him. Eren shouted out "GUNTHER!". I was speechless. Who was that? Oluo shouted "EREN DON'T STOP! KEEP GOING!". Then he shouted to Eld, " SHIT! WHAT DO WE DO?! WHERE DO WE GO?!". Eld commanded us to head to command at full speed or to any friendly forces as there was no time to get on horses. Petra was panicking and asking if that is the female titan or not and whoosh. It transformed into the female titan. SHE JUST HAD TO MENTION IT. "THIS TIME I WILL KILL IT!" Eren shouted. That boy needs to think straight. He can't even control his titan powers properly. "YOU CAN'T. HEAD TO COMMAND AT FULL SPEED EREN. WE WILL TAKE CARE OF THIS TITAN " Eld shouted. Eren wasted some more time nagging when I said "EREN, DO WHAT YOU'RE SAID FOR ONCE GODDAMNIT! OR ELSE I'LL MAKE MIKASA KILL YOU!" I shouted at him and he finally succumbed. "Damn you are intimidating when you shout" Eld said as he smiled at me. Petra scoffed even if I could tell she was intimidated too. The four of us went towards the titan. Oluo and Eld blinded her. Petra and I sliced both of her hands and Eld went for the nape when it bit Eld. She grew one of her eyes back in less than 30 seconds... I was genuinely scared by that sudden comeback. I calmed myself down in a moment and came back at her from behind with Oluo. Petra was infront of it. She was not high enough. I'm in range. I could save her. I could pull her up. It would be completely safe... But... Do I want to save her? I could blame it all on circumstances and not have blood on my hands at the same time... I might even have a chance with Levi heichou if she is out of the picture... There's still time to save her... Should I? Or should I not? Oluo, who was completely out of range shouted at her to go higher but then the titan stomped at her. Oluo didn't stop to think and went for it's nape but Oluo's sword broke. Then it kicked Oluo. They were all dead. I made a decision. I should own it. Nevertheless, I knew I had to do something because I wouldn't just wait for Eren to be taken. I went as fast as I could towards her and snapped her arms off as fast as possible. I was using a lot of gas but I didnt care. The whole squad was dead. I couldn't do anything about it. No, I could've saved Petra but I didn't. I... I'm not a good person anymore... I don't deserve Levi after this... I'll have to tell him about it if I survive and I wouldn't mind if he hates me. My mind clouded with regret, I was going to cut off it's legs when it jumped and tried to kick me like Oluo. It was a stupid mistake that I made. I made some wrong movements because my head wasn't into the fight. As its hands weren't working, it couldn't kick me but its leg got suck to the rope from my 3DMG. I was jerked out of my movements and flew backwards towards the trees. I tried to use my 3DMG but I realized I had no gas. Then I felt my back hitting against something and everything went dark.

Levi POV

I was moving back into formation when I heard a titan's roar. It wasn't the female titan. "Don't tell me that voice is Eren's" I thought. I went where the roar came from and found everyone dead. There was blood everywhere. No signs of breathing. There was Gunther, Eld, Petra, Oluo and Tiana? Wait, is she dead? Her head was bleeding. She laid by a tree. One of her legs were twisted. But I could see the slightest movement in her body. She was unconscious and probably broke her leg and hitted her head. She wasn't dead because the leaves cushioned her fall. I went down and checked her pulse. Yes she was alive. I took my blade and curved "She's alive. Give a signal if you find her" on the dirt beside her and fired an emergency signal. Someone should find her. If not, I will go back for her. I flew away towards the roars again. A girl with black hair was fighting the female titan. She had remarkable capabilities but not good enough for fighting this. She would get killed this way. I pulled her away from the fight and asked her to back off for now. She was convinced that Eren is alive. Apparantly, according to her, the female titan tore Eren off the nape of his titan and ran off with Eren in her mouth. This girl thinks the objective of the titan is to kidnap Eren. "The objective might be to kill Eren too. In that case, he is dead" I said to her. She shouldn't keep so much hope. "HE'S ALIVE!" she shouted at me. "I hope you're right." I said her. She was saying how I failed to protect Eren when I remembered this girl was in the court and looked murderous when I hitted Eren. "I remember you from court. Eren's friend right?" I asked her to receive a glare. I knew how she felt. I felt the same when Farlan and Isabel... "I see." I said staring at her.I heard an acoustic shell while flying. Someone found Tiana. "First, we'll focus on one objective. Give up on killing the female titan." I added. The fact that Tiana is okay made me think straight. This girl was having weird effects on me and there's no denying it. But this was not the time to think about that. "How many of our comrades has she murdered?" Eren's friend asked. "Trust me, as long as that titan has the ability to harden it's skin, killing it is impossible. We'll bet everything on the chance that Eren is still alive and we'll rescue him before that thing can clear the forests." I replied.

After rescuing Eren, that girl and I went straight for the clearing. The supply wagons and all our horses would be there. Tiana would be there too. It didn't take too long to reach and the first thing I did after giving Eren to the medics was checking on Tiana. I didn't know for sure to what extent she was hurt. "How's she doing?" I asked the medic in charge of her. "Surprisingly, she didn't have much injuries at all. She has a mild concussion, a shallow cut on her head and she sprained her ankle. She would be okay after a few hours if she keeps resting." the medic answered me. I felt a wave of tranquillity rush over me. I almost lost her. However, that feeling didn't last long as I saw my entire squad's bodies being carried over to the line of corpses. How did this happen? Tiana... She had the strength to fight the female titan. I know I trained her good enough for that... Was I wrong? No... Tiana is the only person who didn't break after my training. How is this possible? Did they underestimate the enemy? Even if they did, that could cause the death of... Two people at maximum if they were ambushed first. How is everyone dead? I saw a soldier wrap the corpses. What answer could I give to their family? That they died valiantly on duty? Because, that would be lying because Tiana was there with them. She had the power to save them. What exactly went wrong? I knew that I would be having a conversation with Tiana about when we go back to the walls. There would be much more things to handle though, like Eren's custody. This mission was a fail and I am sure that we would have to strategize more to get Eren's custody. Everything went wrong in this expedition. I walked towards my squad's corpses. They all are dead. I cared about all of them. I taught them everything they knew. However, what's done is done. I felt calm. Isn't these expected? Ofcourse they are dead. If I try to approach Tiana, she will die too. I can't approach her. She came back alive and that's all that matters. I won't let her life go to waste. I can't because maybe, just maybe Petra was right.

Tiana POV

I woke up on a cart. I got up to see that we have stationed. I felt slightly dizzy due to the head injury but I managed to get up. I got out of the cart and looked around. A line of corpses were set on the ground. Levi heichou was sitting beside the corpses, doing something. "So you're up" he said without looking at me as I walked towards him. I remembered the squad being killed. I started feeling sick. I will never see Oluo bite his tongue again. Eld won't ever brag about Oluo and Petra pissing their pants. Gunther will never try to prove that he didn't piss his pants. And worst of all, I felt relieved that there won't be any Petra to try to take Levi heichou's attention away from me. I don't know why his attention meant so much to me but it was enough to be glad about Petra's death. It was an odd feeling really. I regretted having to make the decision that led to her death but her absence made me happy. I felt disgusted with myself because of that. "I'm sorry" was all I could croak out to Levi heicou. I looked down to see him ripping the batch on the jacket off Petra's corpse. That scene made me feel uneasy. Did he love her that much? So much that he would take a memory? It deeply hurted me and I knew that I deserved it. He was looking at that corpse because of my decision. How could I look at him in the eyes after that? Why did I do this?

I didn't talk any further to him after that. I couldn't bring myself to do so. He would be disgusted with me if he knew... I travelled on the cart after that. We were chased by titans after that due to the stupidity of some cadets but we lost the titans after throwing away all the corpses. I couldn't save one of our comrades from getting eaten because I was dizzy from my head injury and Levi heichou couldn't do it because he apparantly had a leg injury. After that, Levi heichou gave that same batch he took from Petra to the young soldier, telling him that it was his friend's. The friend he risked his own and all his comrade's lives for. And here, I made the decision to let a comrade die because she was with someone that I liked. I really should get eaten by a titan.

Entering the walls were a nightmare to behold. The citizens were all staring and mocking at us. I felt ashamed to be alive. It worsened when Petra's father gave Levi heichou the marriage proposal. He didn't talk. He must've asked her to marry him. A wave of relief went over my body "There's no Petra to get married to" I thought smugly and I instantly regretted it. It all hit me suddenly. I had been selfish. Because of my selfishness, Levi heichou would have to go to their parents and give excuses from my side to justify their deaths. If I saved Petra, Oluo wouldn't have charged towards the female titan. My mind wouldn't be clouded and I could've taken it down. We underestimated on our first attack and we could've made up for it. Only if I saved Petra, Levi heichou would'nt have had to go through this pain. I took two children away from their parents just because I couldn't make the right decision. I don't deserve to live. I deserve to have my corpse thrown off for the titans to eat. Because of my decison, Eren's custody will be changed to military police. His life would be at stake again. How could I face Mikasa after this? Uncle Erwin would have to come up with a new plan. How could I live with this decision? Why did I make this decision? Only if I saved Petra, I wouldn't have had to endure this odd feeling. This feeling of remorse and a twisted joy. I didn't know what to do with these nasty and unnatural emotions so I locked myself up in the room Petra and I shared as soon as we reached the castle and took a sleeping pill and got into a deep sleep.

Levi POV

"I'm sorry" she said to me. Her voice had remorse but also relief. What was she relieved about? Her eyes showed pain when she saw me take Petra's batch. What was going on in her head? I only took the batch because I felt guilty of the way I treated her. I indeed was too cold with my rejection. I intended to give that batch to her family. Atleast they would have something to bury at her funeral... Tiana walked away after she noticed that I was taking Petra's batch. Could it be that she holds similar feelings towards me? The silence between Petra and Tiana this morning was very noticeable. Did they fight because of me? Tiana was there when Petra died. Knowing Tiana, having all my comrades dead in her care seems far fetched. Tiana is talented enough to save atleast one of them, even if they were ambushed. Did Tiana have anything to do with Petra's death? That seemed like the only valid reason for their deaths. If it was something like that, could I ever forgive her?

As we entered the wall and Petra's father started giving me a marriage proposal for his dead daughter, I remembered the last thing I said to her. "I'm not interested in you Petra. Please don't do this again because you already made things awkward. You're a talented soldier and it would be bad for the squad if I have to transfer you". This is what I said. I should've transferred her. She wouldn't be dead then. She would've had a chance at life. I remember her saying "You love her don't you? Ofcourse. I'm sorry." with tears in her eyes. I thought about this the whole time Tiana was unconscious. I remembered Tiana's past. She is a beautiful strong young woman. I admire how she went on after everything that happened to her. If I were to be honest, I like how she reads books and how serious she is about things that matter. I was amazed by her resilience as she was the only person that I've ever met who didn't give up after the intense training I had put her through. I deeply approved of the fact that she took cleaning so seriously. She is just... Perfect. Atleast, to me, she is. She might come up as rude, socially awkward, ruthless, and intimidating to others but to me, she was the perfect woman. Women like her are very rare as getting beautiful usually meant not getting strong vice versa but Tiana had both strength and beauty. She is the only person I've ever found myself interested in. I knew the answer to Petra's question. Love isn't something that comes out of nowhere but I cared about Tiana. Not to mention that I lusted her. I lusted her ever since she sat on my face. But I had to keep her safe from further heartbreak. As a member of the Survey Corps, living isn't granted even if you're the strongest soldier of humanity. I didn't want her to be hurt more by getting involved. After all, people I care about always seemed to die.


	8. Confession

Levi POV

The M.P expected us to turn in Eren after the failed operation but Erwin apparantly had a plan. I woke up and went to the dining hall to find Tiana making tea. Just two cups for today. She didn't look at me. Her eyes were puffy which meant she cried to sleep. I never thought the death of our comrades would make her cry. She didn't seem like someone who would cry about what happened in the past that easily. I didn't want to judge her though. However, I didn't see her get too close to anyone from the team. "Rough night?" I asked her as she set down a cup of tea and some biscuits infront of me. "Yeah. A bit" she answered and took a sip of her own tea. There was an awkward silence between us as I didnt know what to say to her. "I wish I died instead. Things would've been better that way" she murmured again and took a biscuit from the plate. "Don't say that. What happened has happened. We can't change anything and I'm glad that you're alive. You're a big asset to the team" I replied. I knew I was bad at giving condolences to people but this probably was the worst I've ever done. "You aren't glad captain. Wouldn't you have preferred it if Petra was alive instead? After all you were supposed to get married to her. I... I could've saved her you know. But I didn't because I had some personal issues with her. I wasted that one second of advantage that I had over the female titan just because I didn't know which would've been the right decision. The one I made was clearly wrong, by general ethics and also because it caused a lot more trouble for you and uncle Erwin. The most horrible thing about it is that I don't regret it. I regret the fact that I don't regret her death. What I did is a punishable offence and I would gladly accept my punishment." she said looking down at the table. I sighed at that. Ofcourse she had something to do with this. Someone with her level of skills could've easily gotten out of that situation. "Tiana, I will be blunt with you. What you did was selfish, irresponsible and immatured. I won't go on with the ethics here because I personally killed people who had a problem with me back in the underground. However, Tiana, we are not in the underground now. We are up here where ethics have values. I personally made some very immatured mistakes during my first expedition too, trying to kill Erwin. That got the two people I ever gave a damn about killed. I won't report this to the higher ups because I tried to kill a comrade on my first expedition too due to my selfish whims. However, Tiana, if anything like this happens again, I won't hesitate to report to Erwin. I care about my comrades and you will have to take responsibility for such actions. The titans are already out to kill us during the expeditions and killing eachother won't help humanity or your goals. I won't ask you to be ashamed of what you did. You made the decision and you are owning it. However, I am not proud of what you did. I expected you to be able to keep your personal feelings out of your job. By the way what do you mean by that deal about marriage? Petra had a crush on me but the feeling wasn't mutual. I wish I transferred her to another squad but I can't change anything now. Petra and I weren't supposed to get married. She just ranted about it to her father I suppose so that he could convince me." I said to her in a monotone voice, wondering if that thing about marriage that Petra probably bragged to Tiana about made Tiana make such a bad decision while her eyes widened. "But I saw you two kissing... " she started when I interjected "she just confessed her feelings to me then and kissed me out of nowhere and you opened the door before I could process the whole information and push her off me." I said. "But she said me you are dating her..." she started again and I interjected again to say "She was bluffing" this time annoyed because she just isn't getting the message. "But why.." she started again and I stopped her again to say, "because I like someone else you idiot! ". At this point, she looked like someone punched her in the gut as a flash of regret glinted in her eyes. It passed in mere seconds before she looked surprised at me and asked, " Heichou, don't mind me asking but are you gay? And is that Eren?" The look on my face probably made her understand how ridiculous that theory is. Why did she even think that? "Sorry for assuming. But if you're not gay, it must be Hanji.." she said and I could see a speck of sadness in her eyes. Does that mean she likes me too? "Why would I even like that titan loving shitty glasses? She's like a sister." I told her in my monotone voice. "Oh! So, it someone I know?" she asked me. "You do know that I'm your superior right brat? You shouldn't be asking questions like this." I told her. "You told me that I can trust you. Doesn't that mean you should trust me too? And these trust businesses kinda makes us friends right? Since we are trusting eachother about things that are personal? And I thought friends talk to eachother about stuff like who they are interested in." she said with straight face but her voice betrayed her. She was nervous. "What's in it for you?" I asked her. She can't know I'm interested in her. "Just curious. I'm not great at making friends and since I happened to make a friend by myself, I just thought I'll try to make a conversation. Sorry for bothering you captain." she said, without looking at me. "Look, it's best if you don't know. I like someone I'm not supposed to. If this gets out, both her and my reputation will be on the line." I said to her with a serious tone. It was the truth. After a pause, she said, "I happen to be in a similar situation" with a smile. She really should smile often.

Tiana POV

I felt like a complete idiot. Ofcourse Petra lied. It was all sinking in now. I got someone killed because I was a selfish piece of crap. And to add to my guiltiness, she wasn't even with Levi heichou. How could I do this to her? To her parents? "Why the hell are you still alive! Such a burden... Just get out of my house and die somewhere will you?!" I remember a voice shouting at me, a memory of my childhood, a memory from the underground that never left me. Was I becoming like her? That woman who sold me off to that brothel? Was I becoming like my biological mother? That woman broke every promise she ever made to me. Could I live with myself if I became like that? I decided not to think more of it because I probably would never be able to look in the mirror at myself. With that, I stopped thinking about it and just as heichou mentioned that he liked someone, I blurted out that I am in a similar situation without giving it a second thought.

Who was he talking about? That day after looking at Petra kiss heichou, I came to the conclusion that I have feelings for Levi heichou and I don't regret Petra's death because her absence made my insecurities go away. I felt like I'm a monster for thinking that way and cried quiet a bit thinking how disappointed my parents could have been, how disappointed everyone would've been in general as I thought about it last night. I also thought that heichou just lost his fiancee and I definitely didn't have a chance because he probably would be too devastated to be with other women. Now that I knew the truth, I felt plain guilt, however, as there was the slightest possibility that the girl heichou likes could be me, I didn't have any intention to let go of this chance. "I'll tell you who I like if you tell me about you. That way no one can double cross eachother." I said to him. "I don't feel comfortable about saying you clearly who she is." heichou said not looking at me. I could see him blushing. It was a sight to see. "We could play a game of 5 questions. We will ask eachother 5 questions and both can answer as yes or no. Is that okay?" I proposed. I personally always hated this game that Eren and my fellow members of the 104 trainee corps made up but at that moment, I couldn't think of any other way to get heichou to open my mouth. "Yeah I guess.." he answered sounding a bit unsure. "Do I know her?" I asked. "Yes. And is it a man?" he answered and asked. "Yes. Is she from the 104 training Corps?" I answered and asked again. "Yes. Do I know him?" he answered and asked. "Yes. Is she in the top 10 recruitments?" I answered and asked. A blush forming at my face. So he is into someone from our training Corps.. He looked away and said, "Yes. Is he from the 104 trainee Corps?" The tension between us was increased. "No. Is she in the top 3?" I asked not looking at him. If he says yes, its either me or Mikasa. "Yes. Does he happen to be a squad leader?" he asked. His body was tense. He didn't make eye contact with me. I didnt either. I was too nervous. "Yes. Is she in the first position?" I almost whispered. I was speechless. I never thought that slightest hope could become something so big. "Yes. Is he the captain of the survey corps?" he asked while running a hand in his hair. His face looked serious. He was interested in me. "Yes" I whispered. I was so shocked that I didn't know how to react. I should've felt happy but in reality, I felt terrified. I knew why I felt that way. It's because the reality sunk into me. The world was a cruel place. Bad things happened whenever I believed in people. I wasn't ready for losing him. I didn't know if I ever could be ready for that. He looked at me with wide eyes. I could see the fear in them. He was scared too and I understood why he felt that way. He was right. This was impossible.

Levi POV

Did we just confess to eachother? What the hell am I doing? This isn't me at all. I seriously agreed to play this stupid game those cadets made up just to know who she had feelings for? I knew that if it wasn't me, I would make their life in the survey corps much more hellish than it already is. Now that I know that it's me, it bothered me that I would have to break her heart. However, this girl makes me make all sorts of bad decisions and I can't even hate her for it. I looked straight at her eyes. She was blushing and her eyes were as terrified and sad as mine. This wouldn't work and she understood it. I was glad that she understood the issue because explaining this would be a big problem. The silence was broken by Eren. "Hey Tiana, you made breakfast?" he asked her cheerfully. Tiana tried "No" with her usual monotone voice. Eren didn't notice the tention in the room because of how stupid he is and he sat down beside Tiana. "They are late.." I broke the silence. "I can't believe that good-for- nothing Erwin.. Making me wait. The MPs are going to get here first. Most likely.. He's having some trouble taking a shit." I said. Eren laughed but Tiana didnt. She probably is still processing everything. I took another sip of the tea and placed it on the saucer. "Heichou, you're pretty talkative today" Eren said nervously. Ofcourse I was. I confessed to Tiana a while back and the situation just got more complicated. I was talking so much because there was too much on my mind. "Don't be stupid. I've always been talkative" I said instead. "Eren" Tiana called out, her face looked like it had aged suddenly. I knew that she was about to talk about her contribution on the death of my squad to Eren. She seemed more worried about talking to him than she did with me. It made sense though since Eren was the typical righteous type of guy. "What is it, Tiana?" Eren asked her with curiosity. "It's about the squad's death. I could've saved Petra and that would've saved Oluo but I didn't because of my own personal issues. I was wrong to do that. My priorities shouldn't be greater than anyone's life. I need to know if you can forgive me after hearing this." she told him, her voice monotoned. "Tiana... I can't forgive you for the decision you made but, I made a wrong decision too. That was what got you in that situation. It all started from me. Back then, if only I hadn't made the wrong choice things might have been different. Even you were injured..." Eren stated, looking at me at the end. "I told you two. No one knows how things will turn out. Stop blaming yourselves for this. It's just how the situation was." I answered to them, shutting them up. The last thing the survey corps needed right now were soldiers that are regretting. Just then Erwin and the others arrived.

Tiana POV

Armin came to a conclusion that Annie could be the female titan. The plan was, when the military police came to escort us, Eren, Armin and Mikasa would sneak out. They would take Annie to the abandoned underground city in stohess district and fight her there with some other survey corps soldiers and with Eren's titan powers. I am supposed to be with Levi heichou and Uncle Erwin. Both of us were injured and we weren't allowed to participate in the fight. Everything was going according to the plan until there was a lightning and a gust of smoke. We knew the plan failed. Commander Nile looked surprised and was talking to Uncle Erwin. I looked at Levi heichoui. He was staring at the smoke. Suddenly he looked at me and said, "seems like plan A failed. We need to go somewhere safe until the fight is over. Go tell Erwin to make his conversation quick and get moving". " Yes heichou" I replied and went to Uncle Erwin. My mind was still stuck to the conversation we had this morning. Heichou was right. It was impossible. But... If I couldn't have the one I love, I couldn't reach my goal to happiness. In that case, what's the point of being alive?


	9. Confusion

Tiana POV

We were helping the civilians evacuate when Uncle Erwin suddenly remembered that no one was sent to give the message that Annie Leonhart is actually the female titan to the South of wall Rose to the safehouse where other 104 training corps soldiers were kept. "Who do I send there now? Everyone is busy fighting Annie.." he sighed. "May I go there? I am wearing combat uniform which will get me through the forest that has to be crossed in case if any wild animal attacks and my horse is fast too" I asked uncle Erwin. "But you're injured. Are you sure you will be alright?" uncle Erwin asked with a worried face. "Besides, weren't you supposed to protect the commander in case things go wrong?" Levi heichou interjected with a very professional tone. "Heichou, it seems like the military police are helping us now. They could protect the commander if it's necessary as they are in combat uniform too. Besides, I only have a sprained ankle and a cut on my head. Such minor injuries shouldn't stop a good soldier. I will only go if permission is given as someone from the military police could also do the same job. However, I doubt their horses are as efficient as ours. That's all" I replied with an equal amount of professionalism. If Levi heichou wanted to pretend everything from this morning never happened, I will do the same. "Okay. Permission granted. Be careful" Uncle Erwin said with a smile. I got on my horse and got out of Stohess district. The cold wind out of wall Sina on my face was a good change from the crowded roads inside the wall. Mikasa, Armin, Jean and I wasn't suspected because, Mikasa and Armin were Eren's best friends and they wouldn't have to go through so much trouble to kidnap him. Jean wasn't suspected too because he was with Armin the whole time. However, even if Reiner was with Armin too, it seemed like the female titan knew exactly where to go after her combat with Reiner. It was also surprising that Reiner survived the grab by the female titan. He was suspected to be assisting the female titan. I on the other hand was not suspected because the captain found me injured when the female titan was fighting Eren. They were all kept in that safehouse based on Armin's assumptions under Mike Zacharias's squad. I galloped towards the safehouse trying to ignore the fact that I was hurt by the way the captain behaved.

Levi POV

I was trying to ignore what happened this morning because I wasn't sure what to do with it. I knew this could cause a lot of complications and the last thing we needed was complications. However, the look on Tiana's face when I tried to be professional with her made me regret talking like that. I just wasnt sure about how to react. I was staring at Annie inside some sort of crystal she formed around her. The fight was over and she did this to prevent questioning. We found out there are colossal titans inside the walls. Apparantly pastor Nick knows something about this but refuses to open his mouth. Erwin was on a meeting with Darius Zackly about the massacre caused inside stohess district. Suddenly a soldier came on and said "Wall Rose is breached. We got news from the safehouse in the south. The titans are approaching from that way". My heart sank when I heard that. Tiana was there. Just these three sentences made all my confusion go away. I knew what to do with what happened this morning. " Does Erwin know?" I asked the soldier. "Yes heichou. He was informed before anyone else. He requests all squad leaders and their teams to be present at the Ehrmich district." he replied. "Okay. You may go" I replied before heading up from the underground facility. I found carts getting filled with all the squad leaders present in stohess for the fight including Hanji who was sitting with Pastor Nick, Eren and Mikasa on a cart. I went over to their cart because I didnt have a squad anymore.

12 hours earlier:

Tiana POV

I reached the safehouse and informed squad leader Mike about Annie being the female titan. I also let him know that the 104 trainee corps soldiers are free to go back now but it was decided that everyone would leave after lunch. I went to see how everyone was doing and found Connie and Sasha talking about sneaking out to go to their villages. "Well, I dont think you have to sneak out. We found out who the female titan is and everyone can go wherever they want after lunch" I said as I entered. "But that's gonna take some time" Sasha said as she kept her head on the table. She suddenly jerked up and said "I hear the ground rumbling! It sounds like footsteps." While Reiner was debating that titans breaking in is impossible, Mike sensed something and sent a guy named Thomas to look around. He came back with news that wall Rose is breached and there are titans 500 meters from here. If wall Rose was broken, most of humanity didn't stand a chance because Wall Sina didn't have enough space to give everyone food or shelter. I started panicking at the thought but calmed myself down as squad leader Mike instructed us to evacuate and let all nearby villages know that titans are coming. We decided to split into four teams. I was assigned in the south team because that was the most dangerous route and I was one of the most skilled soldiers out here. Connie was supposed to lead us to his village. As we galloped away from the safehouse, the titans suddenly started running. They would catch up to us of they run this fast. Just as I was thinking this, squad leader Mike said "Gelgar! Take command of the south team!" and ran off towards the titans. I've heard he is the second strongest soldier of humanity just after Levi heichou so I didn't question him. The thought of heichou came to my head. He was inside wall Sina and safe. Atleast someone I care about won't die today.

9 hours later:

We warned several villages on the way and they all evacuated. Connie's village was the last one left. As we came near it, Connie's horse sprinted towards the village even if others told him to slow down. As we entered the village, we found broken buildings. The village was destroyed by titans. Suddenly we came across a titan who lied down on a building. I went to check on the stable to see if the horses are there or not. One of Mike Squad soldier came with me. The stable was full of horses. Does that mean everyone got eaten? We didn't see any body on the way. We went back to that titan that couldn't move because of its small limbs. It was surprising how that titan came here. Many questions were coming to my mind but we made it clear that there's no one in the village. We followed Gelgar out of the village. Reiner and Connie took some time but caught up with us.

2 hours later:

It was dark. We used torches to move. Our aim was to find the hole in the wall now. Suddenly we saw the west team. Krista and Ymir was there. "Did you follow the wall here, too?" Gelgar asked. A soldier from the West team said, "Yeah, so, where's the hole?" It seemed like there was no hole in the wall. But in that case, how and where did the titans come from? The number of questions kept increasing in my head. As I was thinking about the whole scenerio, Krista mentioned how tired she was. I remembered that I too, was tired from riding on a horse for 11 hours. Just as someone mentioned that some moonlight could be good, the moon appeared out of the clouds and we could see the ruins of a castle in distance. No one knew there was a castle so close to the wall but everyone was happy to find a place to rest. Everyone was talking as we went inside but I decided to make use of whatever time we had and get some sleep.

An hour later:

I woke up to the shouts of a female soldier from the west team. She was saying everyone to head to the roof. I didn't waste any time and went up. As soon as I reached up, I saw huge amounts of titans flocking up near the castle. Small titans broke the door and got inside. And there was a 17 meter class abnormal titan with hair all over it. It headed towards the wall. Suddenly a titan charged at the tower trying to break it. I looked at the soldiers from Mike squad and they nodded at me. We will fight now. One of them said the others to stay put and the five of us switched to 3DMG. The fight just started.

Krista POV

The Mike squad was fighting a few titans near the castle but in case of Tiana, I could only see a blur and titans falling down. It had been about five minutes since the fight started and Tiana alone killed about 6 titans. The titans still kept swarming in. The lady from Mike squad came up and said us to give all we can. We had to stop the small titans from infiltrating the castle.

Tiana POV

I was on my 15th kill when suddenly something threw a huge boulder at the Castle. The stable was destroyed killing the horses. A second boulder was thrown and it hit the tower. We flew towards the damage and saw two of the soldiers were killed. We took the bodies to the roof and as Connie pointed out, we saw the beast titan was the one throwing the boulders from top of the wall. As we looked back at the forest infront, double the amount of titans came swarming in. My tank was half finished. At most I could kill about 20 out of the 40 titans coming at us excluding the small ones. Without a second glance I went down slashing one after another titan down as fast as possible. I made the least amount of movements to save up gas. Still, I was only able to kill 18 more titans before I only had enough gas to go up. I got up to the tower and saw the other two fight. Their gases were over in 2 more minutes. They killed several small titans and 10 titans over 10 meter. Just as I expected them to come up, Gelgar fell down and the other soldier went down to save him and both got eaten. We were gonna die. I was regretting the fact that I gave Levi that attitude. That was the last thing I ever said to him. A smile came to my mouth. So this is it huh?

I looked at the sunrise. It was so beautiful that I felt like death won't be a bad thing. Suddenly Ymir jumped from the tower with a knife and there was a lightening and I saw her turn into a titan and attack those titans down. Ymir is a titan shifter like Eren and Annie? Just as things Couldn't get more confusing, the tower started falling. Krista was shouting out encouragements to Ymir and I was too dumbstruck to do anything. Suddenly Ymir's titan form came up and said "Grab on to live". We all did as we were told and she pinned all those titans under the falling tower. As the titans were rising again she rushed back to finish them off. But then she was caught by one of the bigger titans and they were eating her off. Krista ran towards her saying some stuff about her real name which only added to my already huge list of questions. A titan was going to grab her when Mikasa and the others showed up. I was sitting down on the rock because I couldn't stand. All that flying and falling worsened the condition of my leg. They finished the remaining titans off. I was not dead.


	10. Something worth living for

Levi POV

I was at Trost district with pastor Nick. I showed him the evacuation of people from wall Rose in Ehrmich district last night. It made him talk about a certain Krista Lenz from 104 training Corps. Tiana must know her. Pixis was in Trost and Erwin asked me to be there with him as the Garisson is involved in finding the whole in the wall. Now that I was sure about what to do about Tiana, all I could do was wait for her to return. I didn't distrust her abilities. I knew she is a very efficient and lethal soldier. The only thing bothering me was her injuries. She kept the sprained leg in check with a bandage but how long could that hold up? In case of combat, it would be a nuisance and decrease her abilities by a lot. There are possibilities that she wont be able to walk for a long time if she puts too much strain on herself. I wasn't a doctor but watching Hanji heal so many of our comrades gave me a vague idea on such things. I was sitting on the cart with the pastor and talking to some military police soldiers when a messenger came rushing and said "THE ADVANCE PARTY IS BACK! SOMEONE TELL COMMANDER PIXIS!" I wanted news about Tiana as soon as possible but I decided that looking too eager would raise suspicious. After Pixis and Erwin came down from the wall, the messenger continued, "W-we found no holes or any other irregularities in the wall.. B-but the situation has turned into an emergency! On our way to report to Trost district, we encountered a Survey Corps team led by Hange! There were a number of unequipped recruits and one equipped but badly worn out recruit from the 104th with them, but among them three of those soldiers were titans!" the messenger quivered. She was alive. The soldier mentioned to Erwin that they were the Colossal titan but the fight didn't go well. "Was anyone killed?" I asked the soldier. "Yes heichou. One member from the Garisson was eaten by the colossal titan. Many are injured from the steam released by the colossal titan." the soldier quivered. Now I was sure that she was alive. Now I had the chance to make things right when she returns.

A few hours back:

Tiana POV

We were travelling to the wall to be safe from any remaining titans on the ground. Garrison members were gonna meet us up there with food and information about location of the hole in the wall. I was tired and hungry because the last time I ate anything was a bread that I bought from a store inside wall Sina on my way to the safehouse. I fought all night with only an hour of sleep. I felt dizzy and passed out on the cart to the walls.

_My parents were going on a date. I was 8 years old. They kept a baby sitter to take care of me. His name was Jacob. My parents went on dates once a week. They used to keep this lovely lady named Miriam who used to read books to me but then she stopped coming and Jacob started coming. My parents said they will keep me safe and I trusted them but I felt uncomfortable with Jacob around. He used to hug me for too long, ask to kiss his lips because he said I would be a bad girl if I didn't listen and my parents will leave me back to that horrible place. My parents said that Jacob is a nice person and I felt like they really would leave me if I didn't listen to him. So I did what he asked for the last two months. Today it was the same but something felt different about Jacob today. I was in the kitchen eating an apple when someone hugged me from behind. I didn't do anything because Jacob always did that. I was always uncomfortable about it but I didn't dare to say anything. Jacob made me sit on his lap this time. He didn't do it before but it made me more uncomfortable. Suddenly he turned me around to face him and horror struck me when I saw his face. His round fat face had that look which I saw so many times in that place they rescued me from. Before I could react, my clothes were torn, my hands were held firmly, my legs were stuck between his and I saw his penis was already out. I knew what was going to happen. "Not again" I thought. My eyes were tearing up. I felt_ _helpless until I remembered that there was a knife on the kitchen table just behind me. I could use it to threaten him and get out of the house. "You did all kinds of things in the underground didn't you? Well, lowlife sluts like you deserve that. I wonder why Mr and Mrs Hertz don't use you the way you are supposed to be used." he said touching me all over. "He's wrong" my mind screamed. "I wont be touched again" my mind kept screaming."Not today" I snarled in my mind and hit his head with mine as hard as I could. It hurted me like hell and I felt dizzy. It made his hands loosen but not his legs and I knew I couldn't reach the knife this way. I had to escape this. "YOU BITCH" he shouted and before he held me again, I stabbed two fingers from two hands in his eyes. This_ _involuntary movement was caused by the fact that I was scared he might hurt me much more due to this act of resistance. He shrieked and I got scared as I realised what I had and curled my fingers into a fist. His eye balls came out and were hanging by two nerves in each eye socket. He let go of me completely and was shrieking and withering. I went to the kitchen table to get the knife as I was scared of him and what I had done. He was screaming in pain and saying words that I couldn't make out. I assumed that he was cursing at me. Suddenly, I felt calm. I stopped him. I remembered everything he said moments ago. Did I deserve what he was about to do to me? I remembered things that were done to me. How much it hurted. How the pain never stopped. How I grew to like the pain. Maybe I did deserve it. But that didnt mean I can't avoid it. With the knife in my hand, I approached the withering fat disgusting man._

"Tiana! Wake up!" I heard Hanji shout. I opened my eyes to see the massive wall. A lift was getting everyone up on the wall. I remembered the dream I had. It was a memory I always wanted to forget but never managed to. I suppose deep down, I didn't want to forget because I didn't regret it one bit. "Is there food up there?" I asked Hanji. "Yes the Garrison soldiers are supposed to bring food for you lot. It's field rations so don't expect anything tasty" she said with a smile and went back to check on the others. The sun was up properly. I assumed it had been an hour or two. My leg still hurted but I could walk. I walked on to the lift and it was pulled up. The view from above the wall was as spectacular as always. I sat on an edge waiting for the Garrison's advanced unit to arrive. A few minutes later, they arrived with news that there was no hole in the wall. As they were discussing it, I waited for them to being the food out. I was famished and weak. Eren was talking to Reiner and Bertholt about something and he looked kinda flustered. I was looking at them when suddenly Reiner removed his bandages and his hand was steaming like Ymir. I stood up shocked. Does that mean Reiner is a titan shifter? Suddenly I saw Mikasa charge at Reiner and Berthold slashing Reiner's hand and some of Berthold's neck. She charged at them again shouting at Eren to run and just then, they transformed into the armoured and Colossal titan. I stood there dumbstruck as the armoured titan grabbed Eren. I knew I couldn't fight so I tried to run as far as possible from the colossal titan. My sprained leg made it difficult but I was doing my best. I saw Eren transform in Reiner's hand and fight him. I decided to process all that information later. I had to survive first. I had to see Captain Levi again. The colossal titan threw a fist on the wall and I was far enough to not get hit. I didnt have any gas in my 3DMG so I knew I couldn't fight anyway. Running was my only option. I kept running away from it making as much distance as I can. Hanji and the others were trying to fight it but just like the last time, it emitted a gust of steam making it impossible to get close and giving everyone burns. That's when everyone went to fight Reiner but none of their blades were working because of his hardened skin. I regretted the fact that all I could do is watch. "Just like that day" I thought remembering the dream I had earlier. But this time I knew better. I couldn't make reckless decisions because for the first time, I had something to lose.

It seemed like an eternity of sitting down. The fight was over. Eren and Ymir was kidnapped by Reiner and Berthold. I saw everything and couldn't do anything about it. I was given food and water and I waited for someone to come. I was tired and my body ached. I wanted to go home.

Five hours later:

I dozed off for a while but the wall wasn't too comfortable. I had a dreamless uncomfortable nap. I woke up to the sound of horses. Other survey Corp members were here along with the military police. Levi heichou wasn't here presumably because of his injury. I was able to go back to a remote cabin where Eren and Historia/ Krista would be hidden. Apparantly they are the new Special operations squad. When I came in, I found Levi heichou sitting on the dining table which is the first room after getting inside the cabin. He had stacks of papers that he was working with. As soon as I got in, he looked at me. We made eye contact for a brief moment till he looked back at the paper he was working on and said "Take a bath. You look like shit. After that, come back and report everything to me. The bathroom is in the second floor, room to the right. You're second in command now so you will get your own room.". I murmured " Yes heichou" and headed to the place he mentioned. So, he decided to make me second in command now? He did mention that I had the capability to get that position. I hoped it had nothing to do with our conversation that day and everything to do with my abilities. I felt weak and dizzy after taking a bath but I went downstairs to report everything. Levi heichou was sipping a cup of tea while I briefed onto everything. When I said him about my titan killing, he mentioned that it was quiet impressive that I was able to do that and I might break squad leader Mike's record this way. I heard from him that squad leader Mike was dead. When I was done, and leaving, he said, "Tiana, wait.". There was something about his voice that I didn't recognise. It wasn't his usual bored voice. It was booming, demanding and powerful but it had something else. He stood up, looked straight at my eyes as if to assess something. Then he walked right at me and kissed me.

Levi POV

I thought all day about what to say her. I couldn't deny my attraction anymore. I just didn't care about any more complicacy. I couldn't stand the thought of her dying and being unsafe for some reason. I knew I had to man up and be there for her and face the consequences. The only problem was, till the last moment, I didn't know how to express it. After she was done reporting, I asked her to wait. I stood looking at her trying to find a way to say her how I feel about that morning and her in general but that's when I realised that I could show it to her instead of saying mere words. I came to her trying to contain myself but when my lips met her's I lost all control and gave up all the passion and lust that was built up over time inside me ever since I laid my eyes on her. This beautiful strong creature squirming in my arms was everything I could ever ask for and the one thing I desired was to get lost into the bliss that I was in right now. Wait, why is she squirming? I removed my lips to find a scared crying Tiana trying to get out of my grasp. I quickly removed my hands and she looked at me with fear. My heart sunk at the expression she gave me. I remembered what she said about her past and realised what grave mistake I made. "I'm sorry Tiana. I just wanted you to know how I feel about that morning. It was wrong of me to behave such coldly with you that day. I'm not good with words so I thought I could show you how I feel. You understand that right? I'm sorry I got carried away. I understand if you dont feel the same or if you want to take it slo.." before I could finish, her lips were on mine. She wasn't going for a passionate or dominating kiss but rather something soft. I liked it for a change. I never kissed a girl like that. She removed her lips after a few moments and I could clearly see the blush on her face. "I feel the same but please don't scare me like that. I avoided any physical intimacy for years and it is all very sudden for me. Please give me some time to process everything?" she said in a quiet voice. "Okay. I can go by that pace. However, no one can know about us. You're my subordinate and not to mention you're a lot younger than me. The situation we are in is complicated enough and this will complicate things more. We have a lot of enemies now and I'm not talking about titans. If anyone knows, you could be a target and I dont want that. Do you understand?" I explained to her. She gave a weak smile at me and said "Yes I understand." "Go get some rest. I'll cook something up before the new squad arrives. They should be back by evening. Get up after a few hours and eat." I said to her and she said "Yes heichou" before going upstairs. I need to say her to call me just Levi when no one is around.


	11. Trust

Tiana POV

_I sat on the floor looking at the huge bloodied figure lying on the ground right infront of me. It was screaming a while ago before I stabbed uncountable times on it's throat. Now it's quiet and peaceful. I heard about titans from my parents. They said me stories about those big humanoid creatures with sick smiles. I looked at the figure and thought, is that what titans look like? The door to the house opened and my parents walked in. I ran to my dad, hugged him, smiled at him and said "I killed a titan!". There were stains of blood on his pants which clearly came from my naked body. I forgot I didn't have clothes on. The look on their eyes made my enthusiasm go away. They looked at me as if they were terrified. Was Jacob saying the truth? Will they put me back to that nightmarish place again? I felt betrayed. Weren't they supposed to protect me? _

"Tiana? Wake up Tiana." I woke up to Hanji's voice. I don't recall much from last night except for the part where I dragged myself to eat the stew heichou made. My only memory before that was the talk with heichou as I passed out on my bed out of exhaustion after that. As I got up from bed, I noticed heichou standing at the door of my room looking at me. A blush was threatening to creep on my face remembering the kiss from yesterday. Levi heichou and I had something between us now and I was feeling as nervous as a teenager for the first time in my life. I didn't know why I kissed him last night but I just couldn't control myself. Heichou just was a beautiful specimen. The sun was up and bright and I realised that I overslept. "Sorry I overslept. Didn't I lock the door last night?" I asked Hanji while getting down from bed. "Yes you are late but you needed the sleep. After all you had a rough day yesterday. And, no you didn't lock your door. You really shouldn't forget things like that you know." Hanji said to me sympathetically. I had to agree with her in both cases but the irony was too much to bear as Hanji often forgot to sleep or eat. "We are going to Trost. Erwin lost an arm and is in a coma. I supposed you would like to see him." Levi heichou spoke to me. I, still trying to control the blush, said "Yes heichou. I will get ready in five minutes". "Well, I will let you get dressed" Hanji said as she left the room. Levi heichou was still standing at the door. After an awkward silence, he said "You okay? Erwin is being treated by the best military doctors. He will he fine." I could see the worry in his eyes. He was worried about me? "Thanks for letting me know." I murmured. The news he gave me made me a bit relaxed. After hearing Erwin was in coma, I feared for his life because he was the only family I had left. Before I knew it, the captain was infront of me. He touched my cheek and said, "It's gonna be alright. Now get dressed and pack up some clothes. We will be staying there for a while. Mikasa can protect Eren and Historia. You can be with Erwin and I have to take care of his work. That piece of shit didn't get a good time to slack off. By the way, you're getting on the same carriage as I am. Don't let Hanji steal you." and he got out of the room. I couldn't help but blush the whole time. Heichou was capable of showing emotions like that? I had to admit that I wasn't acting like my usual self too. It felt as if all the teenage hormones I held back for so long were erupting now. I figured that I would have to wear something fancy as heichou was wearing a suit. Unfortunately I didnt own anything like that so I stuck with my survey corps uniform and packed up the very few clothes I owned. As I went out, I found two carriages waiting for us. Hanji literally jumped at me and said "Here you are! No wonder you're second in command. I have never been so punctual in my whole career. I can see why shorty here admires you!". I tried to get her off me as she dragged me to a carriage and before she pulled me in, a voice said, " Shouldn't you go with Moblit here? He's you're second in command and you're making my second in command stinky here, shitty glasses". Hanji looked at Levi heichou who was standing infront of the other carriage and said, "Come on shorty! I bathed just two days back! My underarms don't even smell!" and she approached him to make him smell her underarms when he crinkled his nose and said "Fuck off shitty glasses. Tiana, get in the carriage." and he got inside the carriage he was standing infront of. I followed him as Hanji said, "Jeez, that shorty needs to calm down" before going back to Moblit. As I got up and sat beside heichou, he said, "You won several sparring sessions with me and couldn't shake Hanji off?". " Hanji was shoving my nose in her underarms. Unlike what she said, it smelt bad, which was quiet distracting" I answered and for the first time, I heard heichou chuckle. I looked at him with wide eyes as he looked at me and said, "I was planning to kiss you but you have to wash your face now" with a grin. He looked amused and I didn't know if I should punch him in the face for laughing at my misery or if I should just enjoy a rare moment of him grinning. I decided to let it slide. I could punch him later. After an awkward silence, he said, "So, I wanted to talk to you about yesterday".

Levi POV

I wasn't sure about that kiss yet. She was tired when it happened. Did she even mean it? After all, she didn't seem to say anything when I touched her cheek or made that remark about kissing her. I still had to be sure. She avoided my gaze when I said that I wanted to talk about yesterday. "Do you regret it?" she asked quietly. Her face looked emotionless but her eyes gave away everything. She was scared. "I don't regret anything. I want this Tiana. I just want to know if we are on the same page." I said to her. She looked at me, smiled and said, "Yes we are.". However, her face became serious again as she said, "Although, I have some questions.". " Well then, ask" I answered looking away from her. What the fuck is she going to ask? "You mentioned that we have enemies inside the walls. Who are they? Why are they our enemies?" she asked. "You see, Nick spilled about Historia and Hanji thinks that the church is not going to take this easily. Nick unknowingly mentioned that other people know about Historia too when he said that he can't speak because of the other followers. If the other followers were to know that he talked, the Survey Corps may be targetted, specially Eren and Historia. Hanji thinks the information Nick gave up had something to do with titans and that makes Eren a target. Historia's noble family definitely didn't want Historia to keep that name. Her mother was assassinated and this means the enemy is strong. As for you, we both know that I'm the so called humanity's strongest. The first thing any attacker would try to find is my weakness to bring me down. We both know that you're the only weakness I have. The fact that you're my subordinate and we both are popular as you made a new name as humanity's strongest woman and that you're so much younger than I am, the gossip about us will spread like wildfire if anyone is to know. If the enemy gets to know about us, you will be in danger. I know you are capable of taking care of yourself but as your squad leader, and something more now, I have a duty towards you. I just don't want you to be hurt" I said to her. I was bad at showing emotions but I think she understood that seeing her hurt would pain me. I remembered the gut clenching experience from that day when I was waiting desperately for her to return safely. I remembered how terrified I felt when I heard she was not well and the colossal titan and the armoured titan showed up near her. I wanted to protect this woman at any cost. "I see. Honestly, I thought you didn't want anyone to know because of the rumours it would create and I thought you didn't want the negative impression they would have on you" she said with a straight face. I see, the usual Tiana is back. I was kinda shocked to see her blush so much. I wasn't complaining though because she looked adorable when she blushed. "You really think I give a fuck about what people think?" I told her raising my eyebrows. She chuckled a bit at that. After some more silence, I said, "Hey Tiana, when I entered your room this morning, you were sleep talking.". She blushed again, to my delight and said, " Was I? What did I say?". She looked lovely when she blushed. "You were saying 'I killed a titan dad' with a big smile on your face. Care to explain?" I said to her with a smirk. I had to know the story behind this. Her face suddenly grimaced. "I said that to my father when he returned home with my mother after I killed that Garrison soldier." she answered with her face void of any emotion. I knew this was a sensitive topic but I knew that trying to lighten the mood wouldn't work. As much as I personally wasn't good at it, it just wouldn't work because I understood the depth of her situation. I saw young children getting molested in the underground. I remember how they cried. I killed a few molesters myself but saving everyone at the end, just wasn't possible. I decided to ask her if she wanted to talk about it so that she might find some solace out of sharing her painful past. As I asked this, she scanned my face as if she was trying to figure something out. At the end she said, "I'll talk if you share your memories with me too". I hesitated for a second and upon seeing that, she asked, "Do you trust me?". I thought about it. I didn't find any reason not to trust her. " Yes, do you?" I answered and asked. "Yes" she answered. Upon listening to her memories of this certain Jacob, my heart ached. My hands clenched into a fist without me noticing and I felt anger fuming inside me. No one will touch her again as long as I'm alive. No one except myself, I thought. I had to protect her from this world. I was proud of how capable she was but I still wouldn't let her in harm's way. I just couldn't. She deserved so much better. "I would've gutted that bastard if he was alive. I would've pulled every single nail from his hands and legs and cut his dick off. You were kind to him and he didn't deserve it." I said to her when she finished. "Well, you're the only one who thinks that." she said to me with a weak smile. "You know, if you give your official statement at the court, your criminal record could be erased. I can talk to Erwin about it if you're uncomfortable. This would help you if you ever retire." I said her hoping she would agree to it. Instead, she asked, "Would you retire?". I was taken aback by that question. " I don't think so. I devoted my life to humanity. I never really thought about retirement." I answered looking away from her. I didn't like where this was going. "Why do you think I will retire then? I devoted my life to humanity too." she answered. "Wouldn't you want a stable life? A family?" I asked her. I was scared of the answer. Every woman wanted that didn't they? I couldn't give her a stable life. I knew that much. Why would she ever think about having a family with someone who might end up dead anytime? "I don't want to be some man's trophy wife. I want to have my free will. I want to fight for humanity. If I am ever to have a family, I would have it while fighting for humanity. I'm sure my children would be proud to say their mother died a hero." she answered with a smile. I felt guilt and relief at the same time. Guilt because she would have to live a soldier's life because of me and relief because she will remain mine for longer than I anticipated. Heck, she might be mine till one of us die. I couldn't ask for more. "Their mother will die only of I'm dead. Before that, it's not happening" I said with a smirk and she blushed at the sentence. She totally got what I meant. "Why don't you talk to me about your past now?" she said. I started talking to her about Farlan and Isabelle. We chatted for hours about our pasts. I said her that the last time I cried was when Farlan and Isabelle died. She told me about what happened at the court during her trial. How Mr and Mrs Hertz defended her cause. How all the proof was in her favour as the man was found with his penis out and she was found naked. The lawer however was cunning and said that as she had sexual experience before, she used it to murder the man. She did it out of her murderous nature that she apparantly acquired from the underground. He blamed her for not talking because everything the proof says were false when in reality, she just didn't want to admit killing the man because she was scared that she would be left in the underground city again. I made a mental note to beat the lawer up. I told her about my mother. How she seemed to love me. How she sold her body to provide me with food and shelter. How at the end, before she died, she decided I wasn't worthy of inheriting her name. How I spent a couple of days stuck in a room with her corpse. How a man named Kenny saved me. She listened and held my hand in the progress. I didn't shrug it off because it made me feel better for a change. She talked to me about how she first met Erwin after her trial. How she was scared of him first but he gained her trust by letting her read books from his personal library in his quarters in the Survey Corps headquarters back in wall Maria. How he trained her to fight. Gave her the courage to face anything thrown at her way. How he never judged her. This made me remember my own experience with Erwin. He never judged me, a thug from the underground city either. I respected him for this attitude. I wondered if he would be happy with me and Tiana being together as he was the closest to a father figure Tiana had. We were so much into our conversation that we didn't notice that we reached Trost. The coachman opened the door of the carriage and we both got down. We were infront of a military police lodging. We were supposed to be staying here till Erwin was up. As we got down, Nile approached us with a somewhat worried face. "I didn't think you would bring extra people. We were only expecting Hanji and you" he said to me. "Well, Hanji doesn't remember to sleep or eat without Moblit's help and Erwin is close to Tiana. Both needed to be here." I replied to him. "I understand but there is a shortage of rooms as the Garrison is holding a charity event in Trost and the people from wall Sina are here. We were only able to arrange two rooms." he said. "Huhhh? Well, that means I can stay with Tiana! I can't wait to tell her all I know about titans! " Hanji squealed and Tiana looked at me with annoyance clear in her eyes and said, "I'm not staying with her" making Hanji stop squealing. "Hanji and Moblit can take these rooms. We will find lodging in any hotel" I said to Nile. "Well, good luck finding a room. Most upper class hotels with enough security are booked for a week." he said. "We'll see that. Could we borrow two horses? Both of us have leg injuries" I stated to Nile and he said, "Ofcourse. Someone would return with horses shortly. I must go now. Good day." as he went out of the facility. After waiting for about 15 minutes, a stable boy came to us with two horses and we went off to search for a hotel.

Tiana POV

I followed heichou's horse to one of the big hotels of Trost district. They mentioned that no rooms are available at any luxury hotel now except one where a few suites may be available. "That would make some effect on my paycheck" heichou said to himself after getting out of that hotel and while getting on his horse. "We could just go rent a room at an inn.." I suggested but heichou said, "We need to be somewhere more secured than that. I mentioned to you why before didn't I?". I didn't reply to it. Heichou seemed to know the hotel we were going to. " You seem to know the location" I mentioned to him. He didn't look at me and replied, "Yes, I stayed there a few times. Not for weeks though. They keep overnight guests discrete.". I felt a pang of jealousy at that but I knew that heichou was popular among women and it happened before we got together, so, I let it slide. After reaching the place, heichou talked to the man in the lobby about rooms. Seemed like only one suite was still available. I took a look at the price while heichou was paying. He seemed to notice the shock in my eyes and asked, " What are you looking at?". "How can you afford that?" I asked him in shock. "I'm one of the highest paid soldiers because of my position in the survey corps and my reputation. I can easily afford it. Seems like your paycheck will increase next month too. You're second in command now after all" he said to me in a matter of fact tone. After he was done with the paperworks with the man in the lobby, I followed him and a waiter into the suit. It had a big living room with an attached kitchen and an enormous bedroom with an attached bathroom. There was a tub in the bathroom and I couldn't wait to use it. "You can take the bed. I'll sleep on the sofa" heichou said as he got into the walk in closet with the bedroom. I looked at the sofa in the living room and it clearly wasn't nearly as comfortable as the big soft bed. I didn't go against his decision however, because I didn't feel comfortable to share a bed with him. I saw him take a towel that was given by the hotel and examine it. When he was convinced that it was clean enough, he went into the bathroom and said, "I sent a messenger to the military police lodging about where we are staying. They will bring our luggages here. When they do, I need you to put out a shirt and a pant for me.". " Okay" I answered. As he went to the shower, I went to the kitchen. They had vegetables stocked in the cabinets and meat in the ice box. I knew we would have to pay for it later and meat was expensive now so I just proceeded to cook some vegetable stew. A military police recruit came with our trunks and I took them from him and thanked him for the help. He seemed kinda intimidated by me even if I was just thanking him but that probably was because of my new reputation. Apparantly I have been on today's newspaper as the strongest woman of humanity. I couldn't care less about such foolish titles. I opened heichou's trunk and took a white shirt and one of his black pants. Seemed like all the pants he owned were black except for his survey corps uniform pants. I laid them out neatly on the bed and went back to see how much my stew was cooked. Just as I was done, I saw heichou get out of the bathroom with nothing but a towel on. Suddenly, dirty thoughts that never crossed my mind before were all flooding in my head. Heichou's body was nothing like those men from the underground or Jacob. It actually made me slightly interested in giving a shot at sex. I brushed those thoughts aside when heichou disappeared in the walk in closet with his clothes. I took a pot from the cabinet and poured out the stew. Heichou walked in the living room as I had set the pot on the dining table. "We could've just ordered room service. You didn't have to work so hard." he said to me. "Wouldn't that be more expensive?" I asked him. He smiled at me and said, "Like I said before, Im one of the highest paid soldiers. You don't have to worry about money. The stew smells good though. Thank God I claimed you before some aristocrat bastard made you their housewife". Levi heichou was teasing me? "Wouldn't you kill them and get me back?" I smirked back. "Ah, that I would. Get cleaned now. You look like shit" he said with a smile. I went to the washroom, took a quick shower and wore a long brown skirt and an olive green peasant blouse. The outfit didn't suit the atmosphere of the room. "I really need to buy good clothes" I thought. As I came out of the closet, heichou looked at me for a while and said, "change into your uniform pants. After seeing Erwin, you're going out with me and Hanji to buy some good clothes. I'll pay for it because your salary as a recruit won't get you anything good. You probably can buy your own stuff from next month". I tried to protest but he got up from his chair and shutted me up with a kiss. As I was gaping at him for his sudden actions, he said "Don't question me. Get dressed properly now. I'll arrange two horses." and got out of the suite. I did as he said because I couldn't exactly complain in this situation. I didn't have much money with me as the salary for recruits, even in the special operations squad, was really low. I ate the rest of the stew left and got out of the suite. Levi heichou finished off more than half of the stew and by that, I assumed that he liked it. I suppose the higher quality ingredients were the reason for it. I found heichou waiting for me outside with two horses. I was anxious about what position I would see uncle Erwin in and it seemed like heichou understood it. "Everything's gonna be fine" he said. I looked at him and found that his gaze was soft. As we went out to the road, I kept looking at that man. He was capable of being so strong yet so emotionally conflicted. I understood his attempts to make me feel better. I was bad at it too. All I knew was that, he was the most beautiful person I had ever encountered.


	12. Jealousy

Levi POV

We just entered Erwin's cabin in the hospital. The horse ride was quiet and formal because we didn't want anyone to figure out there was anything between us. I watched Tiana walk towards the end of the bed and stare at Erwin. I followed her and stood beside her but I was looking at her instead of Erwin. She looked emotionless but I could see the glint of sorrow in her eyes. I decided to put a hand on her shoulder to make her feel better. Gladly, she probably did as she looked at me and gave a weak smile. She was a strong woman but I understood why she felt weak now. After all, Erwin was like her family. He was the only family she had left. After seeing Erwin unconscious for a while, we left the cabin and I took Tiana to a diner near the hospital. I knew that I had eaten more than half of the stew she cooked and that she didnt have much for lunch because of that. I also remembered that she skipped breakfast due to waking up late. The sun was going down and the street lamps were being lit as we sat at the diner and ordered some bread with bacon strips and mashed potatoes. Bacon was relatively cheaper than beef and thus, local diners offered it. Tiana was eating like a monster and I said, "At this rate, I will confuse you with Sasha". She gave me a glare and went back into eating. After all, she didnt eat much the whole day. After we were done eating, Tiana went back to a cloth shop with Hanji, who met us at the diner later. I wanted to go with them so that they won't exceed the budget I gave them but I had a meeting to join in place of Erwin to debrief about what happened when Eren was kidnapped and what our next step is. Erwin usually takes these type of decisions but now its upto myself and Hanji as we are the most capable people after Erwin.

Tiana POV

_I looked up at the big golden haired man. He looked different from Jacob or the other men that touched me. He almost looked like my dad, only my dad had red hair and green eyes and this man was a blonde with blue eyes. He kneeled on one knee to meet my height and said " Hello, I'm Erwin Smith. Remember me from the court? I will teach you how to beat up all the bad people who may try to hurt you and not get into trouble like last time. This way, the bad people will be scared of you and no one can say that Tiana is a bad girl. Is that okay?" he said to me with a smile. His eyes looked kind and trustable. He didn't seem like he was lying to me. I remembered him from the court house. He was the only one who stood up against everyone with my mom and dad to save me from going back to that horrible place. Jacob was wrong about one thing, my parents didn't abandon me. Instead, they said that Jacob was a bad man. I couldn't agree any less. I knew how much I messed up but my parents said_ _that what has happened, has happened. They asked me to let go of the past but deep down, I knew that they were scared of me. They would get scared if I sneaked in their room at night if I had nightmares. They always got their fear in control once they saw I didn't have anything in my hands. I stopped going to them if I had nightmares after that. I knew they couldn't always protect me and that I couldn't mess up again. I scanned the blonde's face again to make sure if his intensions were good. When I felt like he didn't have the type of face bad people have, I agreed to train. _

_Months later _

_"Come on Tiana! Throw the best punch you've got at the dummy" Uncle Erwin shouted. We got close enough for me to start calling him Uncle Erwin. He was one of the very few men I knew who I was comfortable with. He was a really good man and always wanted my best. He could be strict during training but he would let me read books from his collection if I did good. I threw my hardest punch but the dummy just vibrated a bit. "I see, you're too light weight to give strong punches. Your height is small too and you have the perfect weight for your age and height. We need to work on your aerobics so that you can use your whole body to make hits stronger. You need to grasp tactical fighting over brute force." he said to me. He assigned a lady from the survey corps to teach me aerobics the next day._

_A few years later_

_This was the last day of training with Uncle Erwin. I was supposed to fight him today. I fought him before but never managed to win because he was an expert in tactical fight, had the height and was stronger than I am. My only benefit here was the aerobics. The Ms Mary, the woman who was assigned to teach me aerobics, did a really good job. However, I learned more by myself as I started going to the local library to learn more about aerobics from text books as this was my only lethal weapon against Uncle Erwin. We were starting with hand to hand combat. I charged at him. I saw him position his hands to use my speed to topple me off. As he caught me, I changed direction of my leg and managed to kick the back of his head. As he was disorientated because of the kick, I took advantage of the situation to hold his_ _hands, jumped and use the wall to change the direction of my leg and kicked his back which made him fall down. I used one of my knees to give pressure on his back and held his hands in place with one leg and two hands. "I surrender" I hear him say as I moved away. "The first kick was a good delivery. You understood my tactics before I did anything. Im proud of you Tiana." Erwin smiled before grabbing a sword and throwing it to me. It was time for sword fight. Erwin was the best soldier at fighting with his sword in the whole military. Even humanity's strongest soldier, Levi Ackerman, lost against him multiple times before being trained by him to use swords. Even after being trained, he apparantly suffered from occasional defeat from Uncle Erwin. Atleast that's what he told me. I positioned myself and charged at him again._

These memories came to me when I saw Uncle Erwin unconscious on the bed. I lost that fight in less than five minutes. He said he was proud of me because I held on for that long. I was good with swords but he just was the best. Watching him so defenceless made my stomach turn. I was sitting inside the hotel room. I had changed into my nightgown which was a white cotton chemise with full sleves. Hanji bought a lot of things for me and the budget heichou gave me exceeded but Hanji said she will pay for it because apparantly I'm a good friend. She was acting like her usual insane self but I didn't find it much irritating because I heard before that's how women do shopping. I figured I should start trying new things in life. After all, dating like a normal person (as normal things can get for me) turned out to be a good idea. "I had to admit that Hanji had a good taste in clothes" I thougt as I laid down on the bed and passed out in a matter of a few minutes.

Levi POV

I came back at the hotel after that useless meeting to find Tiana sleeping. I brought dinner for the both of us but I didn't want to wake her. I had dinner and kept hers on the dining table so that she can eat it if she wakes up later at night. After getting the coat off, I went to the sofa. I never bothered to change into anything special like night robes because I always felt like it was a waste of time and money. The sofa was small and uncomfortable but it had to do. I didn't sleep much anyway. After what seemed like an eternity, my eyes were closing when I fell off the sofa with a thud. "Stupid sofa..." I grunted and went back up on it. A moment later, I felt a tug on my sleeves. I opened my eyes to see Tiana standing infront of the sofa. "Take the bed" she said. She looked uncomfortable. "It's fine. I can sleep here." I answered. "No. Take the bed. Please" she said to me with a more demanding voice. "Okay then, suit yourself" I said before going to the bed. If she wants to sleep on the sofa, I can't stop her. I heard plates clattering in the living room. She must be having her dinner. As I started feeling drowsy again, I felt a weight come down on the bed. I shot my eyes open to see Tiana lying down on the bed beside me. She looked uncomfortable and was shaking. "Are you okay? Should I go back to the couch?" I asked in panic. I understood why she was uncomfortable but I didn't understand why she was doing it. To answer my question, she said, "Stay. I need to fight my past. I need to be as strong as you are. That's what Uncle Erwin taught me to be." she whispered. She was away from me for a while, adjusting to the fact that she was in bed with me but eventually, she came closer and was hugging me. She was still shaking and I pulled her closer. I patted her head because I didn't know what to say to her. She looked at me suddenly as if to scan my face. She stared at my eyes for a long time until she decided to bury her head in my chest. "She must've found what she was looking for" I thought. I had a fairly good amount of sleep that night.

Tiana POV

Before passing out in heichou's arms, I looked at his face to judge his reaction to this. I didn't want to get physical and I had to make sure he wouldn't take it in the wrong way. I wasn't ready for anything physical yet. I didn't see the look that was in my father or Uncle Erwin's eye but I didn't see the look that was in Jacob and those other men's eyes either. Heichou's eyes showed some very different emotions. It showed how much he cared but it wasn't the fatherly care that my father or Uncle Erwin had. This was something different but I trusted it. I didn't see any signs that he might try anything except for holding me and trying to comfort me. My body stopped shaking as I knew that this man wouldn't hurt me. I buried my head in his chest. The sound of his heart beating strongly put me to sleep.

I woke up early the next morning to find heichou snoring softly beside me. His face looked peaceful and really attractive. I blushed at the thought that this man had feelings for me. "So many women would want to be in my place..." I sighed. I went out of bed to brew some tea. A housekeeper came upstairs in a short while to clean the room and I woke heichou up as she entered the room. I brew the tea while watching heichou make the housekeeper suffer by pointing out every speck she missed. I smirked at the scene before me. It was amusing beyond measures. "The tea is ready" I called out heichou and he left the miserable housekeeper alone. We were both sipping at our tea when the housekeeper was done and heichou ordered for pancakes as breakfast before she left. Heichou and I didn't talk about what happened last night because he probably felt awkward about it and I didn't know how to start talking about it. "So, about last night, are you feeling okay?" heichou asked confidently. If it wasn't myself, no one could've noticed the fact that he had to think long and hard to come up with this sentence. I noticed him trying to work something out while sipping his tea for a while. "I'm fine. I think I'm not scared anymore. Atleast not of you because I figured out that you won't try to hurt me in that way" I answered. "That's good. Well, its the first time I slept in a bed. I usually sleep on my chair in my office." heichou answered. "Well, I've seen your chair in the old survey corps headquarters. It looks quiet comfy... But why didn't you ever sleep on a bed?" I asked the captain. "I don't sleep a lot. I just tend to do my paperworks at night and fall asleep while doing the work." he shrugged. The pancakes came after a while and while eating I asked him, "What type of women do you prefer?". I was curious about it because clearly, heichou was drawn to my skills and personality than looks. " Well, she has to meet my cleaning standards" he answered. "Well, do I meet your cleaning standards?" I asked with a smirk. "Well, as far as I've noticed, you are the best among the other recruits in case of cleaning duties." he answered with a smirk. "What about looks? Do you have any specifications?" I asked with curiosity overflowing me. "Well, I suppose I used to find tall blonde women attractive? Now I think short women can be cute too." he said nervously. I tried to keep a calm face but I think my disappointment with the answer could still be shown in my face. "I prefer women who could keep up with me. If I am to be in something serious, I'd not care about looks but about if that person understands me. I won't say looks aren't important but I think anyone can be beautiful. It all just depends on the personality" he said as he recognised the disappointment in my face. I answered with a simple "hmm". " Do you want to go see Erwin?" he asked me as we were done with our breakfast. "Well, he's only going to be lying down like a weakling right?" I said with a sigh. He wasn't supposed to be like that. "Well, you're right. Why don't we go riding? I won't say no to some clean air" he said. Was he taking me to a date? "Is this a date?" I asked heichou. "Well, I suppose it is" he answered with a slight almost unnoticeable blush creeping at his face. This man was trying so hard to keep a straight face that it was funny. "Well, sure. We can do that." I said to him with a smile. I was smiling often recently because, I suppose, having a companion is nice. It lightens the mood. "I'll get some horses after taking a bath." he answered before getting into the bathroom.

A while later

We were on horse backs going for the interior of wall Rose. Trost district was far too crowded for a good horse ride. I wore a dress that Hanji bought for me. It was a simple one with a bodice, two petticoats, a jacket over the bodice, simple stockings and a riding boot. It's what most working women in the city wore. We bought some sandwiches from Trost and packed it up in a bag on our way. Heichou was planning to have a picnic without ever mentioning the word "picnic" but I decided to happily oblige. As we got in the interior, and beyond the small town just outside the wall, there were huge grassy field. I looked at heichou and smirked at him for a moment till he saw my expression and then I kicked my horse to run fast. He was taken aback by my sudden action but he kicked his horse and caught up to me. I could see the satisfied smirk on his face and that brought a genuine smile on my face. Instinctively, I let my hands stretch by letting go of the horse and surprisingly, I felt like I was flying. [Author's note: It's like the ride Harry Potter had on Buckbeak. Just on a horse instead. Look it up if you don't know]

"Try this! It feels like flying!" I shouted to Levi heichou. He looked a me confused and followed exactly what I did. I saw his expression change to shock and then I saw a smile forming on his face. His eyes looked lively till he closed them to enjoy the feeling even more. The moment didn't last long for both of us as we almost fell off our horses when the horse started climbing up a mound. Heichou stopped his horse and I stopped mine. He took out a handkerchief from the pocket of his pants, laid it on the ground and sat on it. I sat on the grass without anything. Heichou was wearing a white shirt and black pants. He looked beautiful. The sun was right above our heads and the warmth was perfect with the cold wind blowing in the meadow. After having our sandwiches in silence while enjoying the view and eachother's presence, we left for Trost again while the sun was going down. As we reached the streets of Trost, I said, "I had fun today". Heichou smirked at me and replied, " Me too"

Two weeks later:

We went on horse rides almost everyday after that except for the times when heichou had meetings. I've been helping him with paperworks every night so that he could get some sleep. Heichou had a meeting today and I went to visit Uncle Erwin at morning with some of Levi heichou's paperworks so that I could finish them off at the hospital. I sat on the sofa beside his bed the whole day finishing off paperworks until the heichou arrived at evening. He noticed my sad expression immediately. I couldn't deny that I was devastated by Uncle Erwin's condition. I had so much to talk to him about... I had to let him know that Im second in command now. He would've been proud of me. Heichou looked at me and said, "After he gets up, he is going to pay for making me handle his paperworks and meetings and for making you worry". I chuckled at his response as a smile threatened to come on his face. As we were leaving the hospital, I said to heichou, " I think I need a drink. Watching Uncle Erwin like this ruined my mood. And by drink, I meant alcohol". "I thought you hated alcohol?" heichou asked raising his eyebrow. "Well, we got closer the last time I drank. I suppose it isn't such a bad thing" I answered with a matter of fact tone. "The last time, you puked all over the floor too" heichou added. "Relax. I know my limits now." I smiled at him. "Okay, we can go to the bar at the hotel. However, you're not drinking any more than a few sips of whatever I'm ordering for us." heichou told me in a commanding tone. I nodded in answer as we went for the hotel. "We need to take a bath first. We both look like shit" he said as we reached the hotel.

After we were done bathing, I had put on a black dress that Hanji and I bought the other day. Heichou wore a white shirt and black pant. When I was done dressing, he took me to the bar attached with the hotel. He mentioned that this hotel keeps things discrete and therefore taking me to this bar won't raise questions among civilians about the relationship between heichou and myself. He made his way to the VIP lounge with me. I could see women dressed vulgarly walking around the bar. I felt uncomfortable seeing that as I got a fair idea about where the overnight guests that heichou mentioned came from. We sat at a table where a waiter came to take our orders. The captain dealt with it as he mentioned some strange names of drinks that I never heard of. After he was done, he looked at me and said, "I ordered something that isn't very strong. I still want you to only take a few sips." I nodded as an answer. We were talking about the people in the bar, about how great our the horse rides were and about our memories with Uncle Erwin as the drink came along with beef platter for dinner. He made me eat dinner first before taking about three sips of the drink. That was enough to get me tipsy. He drank the rest of it and somehow, still remained sober enough. Before going back to the hotel, heichou excused himself to go to use the bathroom. I waited for a while before realising that I had to use the bathroom too. After asking a waiter, I went towards the female bathroom, which was just beside the male bathroom and I saw something that I wish I never saw.

Levi POV

The bathroom wasn't clean enough. I still used it somehow and was trying to get out as fast as possible. Just as I got out of the male bathroom, I saw a tall woman with blonde hair get out of the female bathroom. "Darn it. That's Emilia" I thought as I tried to go past her without her noticing. I slept with her many times before. She was a paid prostitute in this bar. Unfortunately, she noticed me and called me out. This woman tried to get me into something serious with her for a long time. Probably because of my popularity. I, however was never interested in her in that way. Before I could react, She pulled me into a hug and said, "You're the one who ordered my service tonight right captain Levi? I bet you missed me.". I could've pushed her away from me but that would be considered as an inappropriate behaviour towards women so I tried to gently pull away from her. I had to get out of this situation , turns out, I was already late because Tiana was standing behind me the whole time. She had tears in her eyes but her expression had more anger than sadness. She looked like she wanted to rip Emilia in half. " Tiana, I can explain.." I started but she didn't let me finish and said "I know what happened here. You don't have to explain. I saw the way you pushed her away.". She then slowly walked towards Emilia as if she would pounce at her any moment. " Don't you get the message when he was pulling away?" she said to her with a low menacing voice. I looked at her with shock as she was managing to be almost as intimidating as I am. Emilia was a stupid woman so she didn't understand the situation she was in and she said, "Men do that a lot. You just gotta keep doing what you do to for them to give in". " Well, I don't know your ways but, Levi heichou here is off limits. Stay away from him." Tiana said to her. "Off limits? By who? You?" Emilia sneered. That woman had a death wish. "Yes. By me." Tiana answered with gritted teeth and it took Emilia by shock. She then smiled and said, "Why would Captain Levi like you? You aren't even his type. He likes tall blondes like me and you're just the opposite. You don't even have any big breasts. You are almost like a little man yourself" she said with a chuckle. Tiana's eyes widened in shock. "Enough, Emilia. You had no right to say that to her. And yes, I am in a relationship with her so stop harassing us. I did not ask for your service. You are clearly mistaking me with someone else." I said calmly trying to break the tension because if I didnt, Tiana would knock her dead. I took Tiana's hand to take her out of there but she wouldn't budge. I saw a sadistic smile form on her face. I was really hoping she wouldn't start a bar fight because the last thing we need is attention on ourselves. "So, you're his type huh? I suppose I can't change that.. Oh wait, maybe I can" she muttered as she looked up at her and suddenly punched her hard. I saw a few teeth flying out of her mouth as she fell to the floor unconscious. She was still shaking with anger when I pulled her out of the bar and to our suite. "I have to appreciate what you did but this is going to get us in a lot of trouble." I told her as we went inside the room. She was still shaking but this time, it didn't feel like anger. "I want to have sex" she muttered. I knew she was saying these in the heat of the moment so I said, "You don't want that. You're tipsy, angry and scared. You're not going to make good decisions now". She looked straight at my eyes and said, " I'm not tipsy anymore. I am your second in command for a reason. I can take good decisions in the heat of moments". "Then why are you shaking?" I asked her pointing the obvious out. "Because I am not ready. I will never be ready. I will never be your type. I need to know if you'll take responsibility for your actions or run back to some tall blonde whore. I need this" she shouted at me. I analysed what she said. She wanted this because she didn't trust me. "I can't do this Tiana. You'll regret it" I said to her calmly. To my astonishment, she started taking her clothes off.


	13. Conquering all fear

Levi POV

She just got naked infront of me. "What the hell Tiana?!" I said in a shocked voice trying to look away from her but my eyes failed me. She was small and petite and had curves exactly at the right places. She had a firm breast and ass even if they weren't too big. I thought I preferred big breasted women till now as the view she gave me made me more turned on that any other woman ever got me. I still had to control myself as I didn't want to hurt her. "What? Don't you want this? Don't you like the way I look? I need to know that you won't go running back to another blonde hoe. I need to know if you're satisfied with me" she said in a strained voice. "Trust me, it's taking all my effort to not take you right now but I can't do this. You're not ready. You're trembling. I don't want to hurt you Tiana." I tried to reason with her. In response to that, she came close to me and kissed me. I froze in her embrace unable to think what to do about it. She removed her lips from mine and whispered demandingly, "Aren't you the one who said Eren that he had to make the choice that he believed that he won't regret? I just took your advice and made a choice. Do it". I looked at her with wide eyes and asked, " Are you really sure?". My body was losing control as I stared at her porcelain like skin, her hourglass shaped body, her dark eyes and soft small lips. "Yes but I need to use the bathroom. Could you wait for a minute? " she answered with a hint of blush on her face. "Okay. Wash down there" I murmured as she went off to the bathroom as I sat on the bed to process everything. Before I could change my mind about everything, she returned and stood infront of me with a bashful expression. Her expression told me that she had no idea about what to do. I stood up and trailed a finger to her vagina. It was dry. I knew she was scared and I knew that I had to ease her up a bit so that she won't regret it the next morning. She hugged me as I rubbed her clitoris and I could hear her ragged breathing. "Lie down on the bed" I said her as she listened to my instructions.

Tiana POV

I expected pain from the begining but Levi heichou's touches weren't painful. They made me feel somewhat weird and weak at my knees. When he asked me to lie down, I knew that it't time for the painful part. I did as he said but after that, he did some very unexpected things. Firstly, he pinned me down and kissed me. As he kissed me, he used one hand to continue the rubbing on my clitoris and used another hand to start massaging my one of my breasts sometimes pinching and rubbing the nipple. My mouth made embarassing sounds inside his involuntarily. After continuing that for a while, his mouth moved to my neck and kissed there. I never had my neck kissed before and I realised that I found it very pleasant. I could feel a wetness form on my vagina. I usually had this problem while reading erotica novels. They sugarcoated sex a lot. I knew how painful it was. I heard heichoh whisper in my ears, "I'll leave some hickeys on your neck. You don't mind do you?". " No I don't" I gasped as his finger actions on my clitoris and breast was messing with my breathing patterns. I felt him suck on my neck bruising it. It hurted deliciously and I surprisingly enjoyed everything so far. I was questioning my experience already when heichou went down further and started sucking one of my breasts while massaging the other. I felt sensations that I never felt before, I blushed furiously because I felt these were shameful acts preserved only for erotica novels. Having heichou do these to me further contributed to that annoying wetness along with a dull pain inside my vagina. It was pleasant nonetheless. This went on for a while and just when I thought things couldn't get better, heichou went right down to my vagina and gave me a big lick there. The light moans that were escaping my mouth for so long turned into louder ones as heichou continued licking. I felt my heartbeat increase and my body clench when heichou suddenly stopped. "You're wet enough. I'll start with fingers" he murmured looking at my exasperated face. I was liking what he was doing before. I knew inserting finger hurts. However, when heichou did it, it didnt hurt. I realised that the wetness helped him slip in. I felt awkward sensations. I felt... Full? He inserted another finger and I gasped as the sensation increased and my the sense of being full increased. Then to make my body go crazy, he started moving the two fingers sending of bolts of sensations all over my body. I felt my body clenching again after a while when he stopped again. I saw him unbuckle his pants and pull his rock hard member out. It was big and I was sure it would hurt more than anything I ever experienced. "It might hurt at first cause you didn't have sex for a long time. Just tell me to move when it stops hurting" he said to me and I nodded because I was too nervous to form words. He moved his hands from my body and used them as support as he continued to pin me down and position himself. He then used one hand to guide his member inside me. I felt a sharp pain as he inserted it slowly. I grabbed his hand to ease myself as he leaned down and kissed my neck to distract me from the pain. I felt him hit the end of my vagina, which gave me a weird sensation along with the pain. He didn't move as he continued to kiss my neck. The pain surprisingly stopped in a matter of moments. I remembered his instructions and whispered him to move. As he started moving, I felt a slight discomfort which was replaced by immense pleasure in a matter of moments. The erotica novels were right. The sensations that were flowing from my vagina to every other part of my body was hindering my ability to think and I felt myself loosing my mind. I had no words to describe this. He moved slowly and steadily, in and out as louder moans escaped my mouth. I wasn't controlling any of my actions now. It was him making my body do all sorts of embarassing things. Back in the underground, I remembered being forced to call out those men as they enjoyed it for some reason but right now, I felt the need to call the captain out. "M-master please..." I gave out a strained moan. However, the captain abruptly stopped to that and looked at me with wide shocked eyes. "What did you call me?" he asked. All my senses returned to me as he stopped and I felt beyond embarassed which made a few drops of tears leave my eyes. "I-I'm sorry. That's what I was taught when I was young. I don't know what I'm doing" I stammered. I saw heichou's eyes soften as he said, "I'm not your master. You don't have a master, Tiana. Don't call me that." he said that as he kissed my tears away and continued his pace. "L-levi Heichou?" I tried to continue as I was loosing my mind again. I saw him smirk as he said, "As much as that turns me on, I want you to call me Levi. Just Levi. Whenever we are alone, I'm just Levi to you except for special circumstances". I didn't waste any time now as I moaned, " Levi, faster. Please.". He listened to me and picked up his pace as I grabbed onto his hand moaning his name out to keep a grasp onto my sanity.

Levi POV

Watching her orgasm was quiet amusing. She had no idea what was happening and she was trying to hold it back because she thought she will pass out. I had to instruct her to let go and it took a while for her to trust me. I orgasmed a while after she did. I orgasmed faster than usual because her expressions were raw and turned me on more than anyone ever did, her vagina was tight and her small body was really easy and comfortable to handle. We layed down for a while till I decided that we were filthy as we both sweated a lot and she had semen all over her. She was tired and passed out moments after we were done, so I had to pick her up and bath her and myself at the same time. I changed the bed sheets too and when I felt like things were clean enough, I placed her on the bed and got in beside her myself. She snuggled next to me and for once in my entire life, I felt happy.

The next morning:

I woke up to find Tiana sitting on the bed staring at the bathroom door and thinking hard about something. She covered her bare body with the bedsheet. Suddenly, I felt a stab of fear in my mind. Was she regretting last night? "Tiana? You okay?" I asked as I moved to sit beside her. "Yeah I'm fine. I was just thinking" she replied. I didn't beat around the bush and asked her, "Do you regret last night?". She looked at me and smiled and said, " Ofcourse I don't regret it. I was just confused. Last night was so much different from every other time I had sex. I felt like I am a protagonist in an erotica novel last night.". "You were raped Tiana. Last night was actual sex. Before that, your body wasn't developed enough for this. The people who did that to you deserves to be castrated." I said to her with a sigh. She actually thought it was going to be something like her previous experience? I felt a pang of guilt for not letting her know that it wouldn't be like that. She probably was scared the whole time until the actual penetration began. I, however, admired her bravery. One of her many qualities that made me notice her. "Did you enjoy it?" she asked me without looking at my face. "Yes. It was a lot better than any of my previous sexual encounters. I suppose I'm more into small brunettes than tall blondes." I said to her. She still wasn't looking at me. I was looking at her, waiting for a response when I heard a soft sniffle coming from her face. I immediately turned her face towards me to find her crying softly. "What's the matter? Are you okay? Did I hurt you last night? " I asked her panicking. "No you didn't." she consoled me. "It's just, I wish I never experienced anything before you. I want to forget everything that happened before." she said as her crying intensified. Just as she completed that sentence, she was crying like a baby. I didn't know how to comfort her so I instinctively hugged her. I remembered my mother doing this when I was sad. That was a long time ago and I never used this on anyone so I hoped this would work on her. I heard her muffled cries as I felt her tears wet my chest but I didn't let go of her. She cried for a long time before calming down slowly. I still didn't let go of her even when she was calm. She didn't try to get away from me either. We laid down on the bed holding eachother till someone knocked the door. I had let go of Tiana as she ran into the closet to wear some clothes. I walked into the closet to pick a pant of mine with her and when I was done, I opened the door. The hotel manager was standing outside. "Captain Levi, I had to speak with you" he said formally. I moved from the door as he came in and sat on the sofa of the living room. "It has come to my attention that Ms Hertz, who is staying with you has hitted one of our sex workers. I'm aware that you know about it too as you were in the scene and we both know that it was Emilia. Now, I don't want to know if there is anything between you and Ms Hertz but starting a bar fight isn't an appropriate thing to do..." he said before I stopped him and said, "Before you continue, you should hear our side of the story. Emilia tried to force herself on me even if I tried to politely push her away. I had to be rough with her only because she wasn't getting the message. Ms Hertz tried to reason with her and said her that Im not interested but she insulted Ms Hertz and body shamed her. You should take these into account, Mr Davis" I said to the manager. "I see. Well, you do have a point but letting you stay in this hotel for now would only raise rumours about you and Ms Hertz. I'm sorry but I don't want my hotel to have a bad reputation for bar fights." the manager concluded formally. Before I could reply, I heard another knock at the door. I excused myself and opened the door to see a panting military police cadet. "Levi heichou, Commander Erwin has regained consciousness!" he informed. "He's awake?" I heard a surprised and relieved voice behind me. Tiana stood there with a smile on her face. "Yes. Go pack. We won't have to stay here anymore now anyway" I commanded her as she slipped back into the room and started packing. "Well, I'll give you time to pack and I'll arrange horses. Good day" the manager said to me and walked out of the room. I went to help Tiana pack our bags.


	14. Good times

Tiana POV

Levi and I were on horseback with the military police recruit on our way to the hospital. Everything from last night still felt like a dream. I realised how wrong I was about sexual matters. Dirty thoughts spreaded across my mind just as I was thinking about last night and I had to fight off a blush. "We should talk to Erwin about everything. Specially after that stunt you pulled in the bar last night." I heard Levi mutter to me as I looked at him to see he brought his horse closer to mine. "Okay" I replied shortly. The fact that he wanted to say about us to uncle Erwin was getting me nervous. Heck, I wasn't even used to calling him by his name yet. I knew that he had better judgement though.

We were the first ones to arrive at the hospital. Hanji and Moblet were late. "Erwin, I would've killed you in coma if you woke up any later. I'm tired of the extra paperwork." Levi stated sourly to uncle Erwin as we entered the room. Uncle Erwin smiled and said, "I knew you would Levi. I am grateful for your help. I assume you and Hanji managed everything well while I wasn't there?". When the military police cadet saluted and went off, he said blandly, " Yes we managed the meetings, Hanji is still questioning Eren as he can't remember much from when he got kidnapped, I chose my new squad from the 104 trainee corps recruits, Krista Lenz is Historia Reiss, an illegitimate child from the Reiss family, Tiana gained popularity as humanity's strongest woman, I promoted her as second in command and I'm in a relationship with her." He sat down on a chair to the right of Uncle Erwin as he said that. I kept standing at the foot of the bed. Uncle Erwin looked at him and me with wide eyes and I looked down to hide the blush on my face. "Well, I won't have a problem with you being in a relationship with Tiana as long as it doesn't effect any of your performances. I would like to speak to you alone though, Tiana." Uncle Erwin said just before Commander Pixis entered the room with his second in command, a red haired girl. I saluted and stood beside her when commander Pixis motioned me to be at ease.

Hanji came in there a while later and explained that the titans in wall Rose were actually people from the Ragako village. Levi seemed troubled by the fact that he had been killing humans all these times. I felt troubled too because I didn't know how to take the news either. When everyone was done discussing, Uncle Erwin asked me to stay in the room as everyone left. Levi tried to reason with Uncle Erwin about letting him stay but it didn't work. When everyone was gone, he said with a concerned voice, "Are you sure you made the right decision? ". I looked at him confidently and said, " This probably was the best decision I ever took in my entire life." "Why is that? " Uncle Erwin asked. "Well, after I got myself into this, I found myself enjoying social activities like going on horse rides. I also found out that talking about things that bother you helps you deal with the problem more efficiently. I feel comfortable with sharing things from my past with Captain Levi because he had a similar past. I felt like my life or emotions didn't matter. Now that someone acknowledges them, living feels worth more than just trying to make my parents proud." I finished. Uncle Erwin kept looking at me in a comforting gaze and said, "I am trusting your judgement. I know how loyal Levi can be when he wants to be but he never took any woman seriously before. However, since he talked to me about it, that must mean something." he sighed and then looked at me firmly and said, "Tiana, if he ever tries to hurt you or force you into anything, just come to me. I'll kill him". I looked at Uncle Erwin's fatherly demeanour, smiled slightly and said, " Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself". Uncle Erwin smiled at my reply and said, "It's strange to see how you have grown. I'm proud of you Tiana. Second in command and having so much reputation at this age? Even Levi couldn't do that. And you're also fighting your fears. I'm glad that you're turning into a strong woman". " Are you done with your emotional speeches? We need to go and you need to rest before you pass out on us again" I heard Levi's voice from the door. "I'll be going. Get well soon." I said to Uncle Erwin with a smile and walked out of the door to Levi. We reached the courtyard of the hospital to find three carriages waiting for us and Hanji squad. Hanji and Moblit were waiting for us while her other squad members were already inside one of the carriages. "Tiana! Get in my carriage this time!" Hanji said as she scooted towards me. She wasn't cheerful as usual and was kinda gloomy. "She's not going with you Hanji." Levi said to her calmly. "Heichou, please don't mind but I think I should go with Hanji" I told Levi making eye contact with him. He took a look at Hanji and understood that something was wrong and so, let me go with her. When we were on the carriage, I asked her, "Is everything okay?". She looked at me gloomily and said, " No. I predicted that we will have enemies inside the wall but I didn't know how strong they will be. I'll let everyone know the details when we reach the safehouse."

The ride was rather quiet which was unusual as Hanji usually talks a lot. I felt worried for her because after that shopping trip, I was certainly more friendly to her than before even if she was irritating. She seemed like a brilliant woman who seemed to not try to bring up my past like most people and talked about topics I wasn't uncomfortable with except her rambling about titans which I figured she couldn't stop even if she wanted to. Ofcourse, I wasn't exactly best buddies with her or anything since that isn't something I do but I was nice to her. Watching her so gloomy made me uneasy. As we reached, I went in the safehouse to find a scared Eren and an intimidating Levi talking about their lax cleaning job. There was hot tea in a tea pot on the table with cups arranged together. We didn't have breakfast this morning so, even if it was afternoon, we decided to have some food. Hanji was clever enough to get the supply cart going to the safehouse to send a message to the safehouse about making tea and breakfast for us before she went to see Erwin this morning. The squad, including myself sat at the table with Levi. Hanji and her squad was sitting on the sofa with their tea and breakfast. Levi was talking to everyone about our next move which was to seal wall Maria and asking Armin about his plan and Eren if he can seal the wall with hardening his body. After Eren said that he'll do his best, Levi told Hanji, "Hear that Hanji? He's for it and you're the one who chooses where our experiments will take place.". To that, Hanji replied gloomily, "Yes, ofcourse, it's my duty. As long as I'm alive..." Levi raised his eyebrows at that and Hanji explained that as much as she wants to work on capturing wall Maria, things in the walls got more complicated and that she wants Eren to lay low for now. I knew this was related to what she told me this morning. When everyone arised questions to these, she broke the news that Minister Nick is dead. Apparantly she managed a place for minister Nick in the military barracks so that he would be safe. However, people from the interior military police killed him making the military police our enemies for now.

It was decided that Eren will train with Hanji. After the whole meeting was over, I had to go to my room in here, take a bath and finish Levi's paperworks as he was planning how to train Eren discretely with Hanji. I spent the whole day in my room only getting out for lunch and dinner. In the middle, Levi came to my room, we exchanged a kiss and he took most of the stacks of paperwork back to his room to help me out. Apparantly I'm too slow at writing, he remarked. When I was done, it was pretty late at night. I went to bed but I couldn't sleep. After tossing and turning for a while, I decided to try out the finger actions Levi did on me last night. Rubbing my clitoris felt good but not as much as when Levi did that. I was getting impatient and I needed that tingly feeling that I got last night before passing out. I tried fingering myself which ofcourse felt much better but got me no close to the tingly feeling. I was frustrated and without thinking, I marched off to Levi's door in my nightgown and knocked. When he opened the door and invited me in, I realised that I felt too embarrassed to ask for his help. "What are you doing here so late? Do you want to say something important?" Levi asked me. "Uh... No it's nothing important. Sorry for bothering you." I blurted out and tried to escape the room but Levi caught me and said, "I know you Tiana. You wont just go to someone for no reason. Say what you came to say". I blushed hard and looked down at the floor. He came closer and held my hand and said in a soft voice, " Don't be shy Tiana. I can clearly see you blush. Don't hold it in like having constipation." "I was trying to finger myself but I wasn't getting that tingly feeling that I got before passing out. I need your help." I blurted out. "I see. So, you want me to make you cum." he replied. "That's cumming?" I asked with shock. The books, again, weren't wrong.

Levi POV

"That's cumming?" she asked me with a shocked face. Her obliviousness was so cute that it made me smile. "Yes, that's cumming" I replied. "I want you to do that again" she told me as she was blushing like crazy. I looked at her and sighed. She needed to know what type of things I usually like in sex. Last night, I did absolutely nothing with her so that she won't be scared of the idea of sex again but she needed to know what I usually do. "Tiana, my tastes in things I do while having sex aren't what you saw last night. Things I will do will hurt you but I promise you, you will feel good. You have to trust me" I told her as I pulled her close with my hands on her waist. She hesitated a bit before saying, "Okay. I trust you". " You'll have to learn some basics before." I said as I moved away from her towards my bed and signalled her to follow me. I sat down on the bed with my legs down and said, "Tiana, kneel down and sit between my legs.". She did what I asked her to and I took her chin in my hand and pulled it up so that she would face me to say, " Tiana, don't ever be embarrassed to talk about sex with me. It's a normal thing that couples do and we already did it once. Don't be shy." "I'll try" she whispered as I unbuckled my belt and pulled my dick out infront of her. "Now, suck on it. Use your tongue to lick the spot just beneath my foreskin and the top of my dick too." I instructed her. She did exactly what I asked for with really good precision and I was impressed at how good she was. She got me rock hard in no time. The way her mouth felt on me made me want to shove myself deep in her throat. I pulled her hair gently to remove her face from my dick and she looked at me as I did this. "I'll gag you with my dick. You have to stay calm because you'll be hurt if you panic and cough. Just trust me okay? Take a deep breath" She nodded to let me know shes ready as she had her mouth on me again. I grabbed her hair and pushed her head along my length. She was calm but I could feel the muscle spasms of her neck. I stayed there for a few seconds and then pulled her back up. She gasped for breath and when her breathing was back to normal, I repeated the process. I did this for a while till I felt like I needed to fuck her properly. I let her go and undressed her. I didn't want any foreplay because she was dripping wet and I was impatient. I opened my own shirt off before impaling her with my dick. She hugged me tightly with a soft moan as I did that. Without giving her any time to settle to my size, I moved inside her vigorously. I felt her vagina squishing me, i felt the slimy warmth with the small bumps inside her which released volts of pleasure from my dick to all over my body. "Levi... Levi... Levi..." I heard her gasping my name, holding me tight, getting ready for an orgasm. Before she came, I pulled out. I had other plans for her. She groaned in frustration. I sat back on the bed and said, "Tiana, sit on my lap and spread your legs". She did exactly as I said. She rested her head on my chest and I fingered her. Her soft moans turned into her gasping my name again and I removed my finger as she was reaching an orgasm again. " NO! DON'T STOP!" she whined in frustration as I pinned her down on the bed and said while kissing her neck, "I won't let you cum if you don't trust me.". She became quiet after that and let me kiss her and bite her neck giving her hickeys. After a while, I positioned myself and got inside her again. She wasn't expecting the quick change in actions and gasped loudly. I pounded into her fast making her orgasm as she shouted my name out digging into my back. I reached my orgasm by watching her lewd expressions. When I was done, I slumped down beside her on the bed. She was still breathing heavily from the orgasm still recovering from it. I realized that I forgot to pull out because she looked so darn good. I got up to get a handkerchief so that I could clean her down there. She laid down and watched me clean her up. When I was done, I told her that we need to take a bath. She got up and followed me to the bathroom. She snuggled close to me in the bathtub because the water wasn't warm. After we were done, she proceeded to wear her clothes. " Why are you wearing those?" I asked her. "I need to go back to my room right?" she asked with slight confusion on her face. "Stay here" I told her in a demanding voice. "Won't there be a problem if someone goes in my room and doesn't find me?" she asked. "If that happens, we will manage something. You're staying here every night from now on. It helps me sleep." I told her in a matter of fact tone. She looked at me for a while trying to process the fact that I asked her to stay with me every night out of nowhere and then she just headed to the bed leaving her nightgown on the floor. I folded it and folded my own clothes which were on the floor too and got on the bed beside her, put an arm around her and drifted off to sleep after a few minutes

Tiana POV

I woke up the next morning to find a lightly snoring Levi holding me tightly from behind. I enjoyed his warmth for a few moments before getting up and going to his bathroom to wash my face. When I came back, Levi was sitting on the bed waiting for me to come out. "Did you sleep properly?" I asked him. He said "Yeah I did" with an yawn. He was naked like myself and I really had to admire the view I got. His pale skin glistened in the sunlight coming out from the window beside his bed. "Come here" he demanded while sitting on the bed. I walked to him and he motioned me to sit on his lap. I did what he asked and he pulled me close and kissed me on the lips. We made out for a while till I pushed away from him and said "I need to make breakfast. We really should stop now" with a smile. "Okay" he answered with a grin and slapped my ass slightly when I got up. I was shocked by his action for a moment but I realized that I kinda liked it. I wore my nightgown and went back to my room to take a bath and wear new clothes.

When I was done bathing, I wore a casual shirt with a long skirt and used a scarf to cover up the hickeys that Levi gave me last night. I went downstairs and took out some bread and got jam on it and made tea. Levi was the second person to come down and he poured his tea from the tea pot and took some bread and jam for himself. I did the same and sat on the chair closest to him. He always sat on the head of the table. Hanji and her squad, Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Connie, potato girl and the guy who always used to fight with Eren came down after a while. Hanji just took her tea and bread and commanded her team to do the same and ran off outside to "prepare for training" looking very excited. Potato girl looked excited as she saw all the bread on the table and tried to eat all of it and I had to tackle her. "Oi potato girl! I'll break your neck if you take one extra bread!" I gritted my teeth as I struggled to keep her away from the bread. "I thought everyone forgot about that!" she gave an exasperated groan. "No one forgot it Sasha", Connie said with a sigh. " I didn't know you had a name expect potato girl before now" I added. She stopped struggling and looked embarassed about her alias. As we were eating, Eren and that guy, who's name apparently was Jean, got into a fight again. Levi motioned me to stop them and I just walked between them and held both of their punches with both my hand. "Stop acting like uncivilized baboons. I expected you to be a bit more matured than this, Eren. You are in the special operations squad so act like it." I glared at both of them and Eren just stormed off from the room with Mikasa running after him. Jean on the other hand sat back on the table giving occasional glances on my way. "Tiana, meet me in the clearing in 10 minutes. I need to see if your hand to hand combat is as good as before. And I think you need to learn how to use a knife. As second in command, you need to know all sorts of self defence techniques as possible specially in a situation like this. And say Eren that Hanji is itching to do experiments on him." Levi told me as he got up from his chair. "Yes Heichou! I'll be there in 10 minutes!" I said standing up as Levi left the room without a word. When I was going to get Eren, I heard Jean shout out, "Tiana! Wait!" I stopped and looked back at him as he stumbled towards me, "Uh, well, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for being so immature back then. It was stupid" he said with a nervous smile. "It's okay." I replied shortly before turning back again. Again, he shouted, "Wait!" I turned to him, looking uninterested. "Uh, I just wanted to say that your hair looks nice" he chuckled nervously by saying that. "Okay. Anything else?" I told him looking absolutely uninterested by whatever he had to say. "Uh, no. Good luck while training" he said as I was marching away exactly when he said that he had nothing more to say. I went to Eren, who was sitting outside with Mikasa and said him that Hanji is waiting for him in the clearing and went there with them as Levi instructed me to go there too. Levi took me a bit far from there and gave me a pocket knife. "You need to be able to kill people with this without a scratch. If you can bring me down once, I'll consider you to be ready. I learnt some techniques from Kenny and I'll teach those to you. You remember what I said about him right? You still won't be able to bring him down with a pocket knife even if you're good enough with me with a sword. Then again, you wont see him ever" he said as he proceeded to show me everything he knows.

It was evening when I was done with training. I went to take a bath and after bathing I had to go to the watch towers as it was my turn to keep a watch. I took a bath, washed off the bruises from my training session with Levi. I lost some hold on how good I was because I didn't practice hand to hand combat for a while. The fact that he had a knife didn't help either. I had a few minor cuts on my hands and legs too. When I was done, I went to the watch tower and climbed up there. Jean was sitting there and he stood up as I came. "That shorty really hurt you didn't he? I hope he gets eaten by titans someday." he grunted. "Well, it was required. You can't learn things by being completely unscratched... And, I hope he never gets eaten by titans. We need a leader like him." I said earnestly and kinda pissed by his comment. However, I hoped that he wouldn't get eaten by titans for other reasons too. Jean definitely didn't expect this reply. "How do you not hate him?" he asked with a surprised tone. "I just don't. He does what needs to be done. I don't see anything to hate in him" I replied calmly. "So, you can like someone who beats the shit out of you?" he scoffed a bit angrily. I didn't understand why he was angry though. "I can like someone who can teach me things to become stronger and not die. He makes us do these because he doesn't want us to die. I think it's a nice thing to do." I answered to that trying to continue being calm. "We kill titans! You're humanity's strongest woman! Why would you need extra training for beating humans?" he said with an exasperated groan. "Because humans are worse! The worst thing a titan can do is kill you but humans can do things that makes you wish you were dead all your life!" I lashed out with frustation because of his nagging. He became quiet after I said that. He probably understood that the last thing I wanted was him to be there and so he got away. I didn't feel bad about lashing out on him because he was being completely unreasonable and I didn't like the way he talked about Levi. The sky was getting darker by the minute. It was a cloudy night. I heard someone getting up to the tower and noticed that it was Mikasa. "Hey" she said as she sat beside me. "Hey" I sighed. I was in a bad mood because of Jean. "Who gave you the hickeys?" she asked. My mood shifted from angry to sheer panic as I looked at her and said, "What are you talking about?". "Well, I could see something black underneath that scarf." she said in a matter of fact tone. I didn't know how to reply to that. "Was it Eren?" she asked me with a cold stare. "Eren is like my brother" I replied with a disgusted look. She calmed down as I said that. "Well, if it wasn't Eren, I don't really care who it was." she said with a smile. "You really love Eren don't you?" I asked her with a sympathetic smile. She sighed and said, "I wish he understood..." I didn't know how to console her. "So, now that you got out of your 'not getting emotionally attached' ban, why are you still so cold to everyone? I heard you shouted at Jean for looking out for you?" she asked me. "It's just how I always was. I never really cared about what others felt because of my attitude. You heard about that Jacob incident from the newspapers right? My parents were scared of me after that. It hurted me because I cared about them so I decided to stop caring. Now I'm making the same mistake again and I just can't stop myself because he just doesn't judge me for what I am" I sighed to her. "Well, I'm living to protect Eren and Armin. I'm not a strong willed person like you but I can say one thing. These people in the special operations squad, they mean a lot to me. I'll try my best to save all of them if their lives are in danger and I don't regret it. They care back too. You should know how good it feels when someone cares about your life right?" she asked. "Yeah I know." I muttered trying to weigh the depth of her words. She was right. Now that I conquered my fears about caring, why should I still keep myself separated? It's true that I'm not particularly friendly but that doesn't mean I couldn't care. Isn't that what Levi does? Isn't that why he is so strong? He wants to protect everyone too and that makes him stronger. Wouldn't that make me stronger too? I remembered the promise I made to myself years back. "I'll avoid being hurt". To avoid being hurt, you have to be strong. To be strong, you need to be hurt in the first place. I made my decision. " I guess I'll try to care" I said to Mikasa with a small smile. She nodded at me and said, "It's for your own good.". I replied, " I know".

Levi POV

I heard the conversation between Tiana and the gloomy brat. I had to agree with her. Caring about my teammates got me where I am. After Mikasa left, I went up the watch tower to sit with Tiana. "I'm getting a lot of visitors today" she stated as I sat down beside her. "Well, I was here when you were talking to that gloomy brat. I decided not to interrup because she was right. You do have to create a bond with the team. When you care, you want to fight harder for them and that makes you more efficient" I said to her. "I figured that's how you do it." she replied. The sky was clearing and there were stars filling the sky. It reminded me of my last night with Farlan and Isabelle.

[AUTHOR'S NOTE: Just imagine the music from that scene in the No Regrets anime when Levi was looking at the sky with Farlan and Isabelle.]

"The sky looks beautiful" Tiana said, her face showing her admiration. She looked beautiful in the moonlight. I put an arm around her and said "Yeah it does". " I cried with I saw the sky for the first time after coming up from the underground." she whispered. "I smiled when I saw the sky for the first time" I told her as I was reliving the memory. I wasn't gonna let her die too.


	15. Nothing lasts forever

Tiana POV

It has been a few weeks. Hanji experimented with Eren and pushed him too far which got his face torn off. I have been going to Levi's room every night and he had been teaching me new things about sex. Things he liked to do resembled some things from my past but this time, I enjoyed it because I trusted him and he didn't force me into anything. Last night, he tied me up, gagged me and spanked me because I messed up during our training session about using knives. Yes, he had been training me how to use knives so that I can protect myself with just a pocket knife. I accidentally let him cut me on my hand during our session last day because I was feeling dizzy out of nowhere. I got up this morning and washed my face in Levi's bathroom. He got up as I was wearing my nightgown. "You look good with hickeys" he complimented with a smirk. I rolled my eyes at that and went back to my room when I was done dressing. I wore a shirt and a skirt that I owned before joining the survey corps. I went down to make breakfast as usual. No one was awake yet except Levi and myself. I started making tea and peeling some potatoes. Levi came downstairs when the tea was done. I poured some for him and myself. The potatoes were still being steamed when Mikasa, Eren and Armin came down. Eren said "Sasha will be really happy this morning too" with a chuckle when he smelled the steamed potatoes. I've been making steamed potatoes for breakfast for a few days "Well, potato girl deserves some good days" I replied as I was drinking my tea and observing the potatoes. I listened to Mikasa that day and started trying to care about everyone's feelings and so far, I've been doing pretty well. I even made peace with Jean after apologising for my outburst that day. Surprisingly, he apologised for being too pushy too. Jean, Sasha and Connie came downstairs as Levi went upstairs to get done with some paperworks and when the potatoes were cooked. Sasha looked really happy again and gave me a hug, again which I didn't return, again. "He cut you again didn't he? Why do you give that shorty so many chances to hurt you?" Jean scoffed from the table. Even if he apologised the other day, he still didn't change his mind about Levi. "Well, I'm training myself for the worst situations that I could come across. It's just a small cut." I replied monotonously. "Hey Tiana, are you imitating Mikasa?" Eren chimed in. "Why do you think that?" I asked him with a straight face. "You keep wearing a scarf like her all the time" he added. "Well, does it matter if I am imitating her?" I asked him, my expression clearly telling him to drop the topic. I, ofcourse didn't want anyone to try to get my scarf off and see the hickeys that Levi left on me. Thus, intimidating Eren was the only option. "Okay okay calm down! " he muttered to me as I looked away. I ate a steamed potato and went off to my room to take a book. Suddenly nausea hit me and I had to run to my attached bathroom. This had been happening for a few days but I just assumed that it could be because of food poisoning. After all, Mikasa cooked dinner the other day and it tasted like horse shit. Everything tasted like horse shit after that. Except tea and steamed potatoes ofcourse. That's why I've been making those for breakfast. This puking every morning was getting out of control so I decided to go to Hanji for medicines after I was done reading the book. It was almost evening when I was done reading and I went to Hanji's room which was downstairs. I didn't have to knock as the door was already open. "Hanji, I need medicine for food poisoning." I said as I walked up to her. She was looking at some files on her table. "Food poisoning? When did you get that? The food supply we get are of good quality." she said curiously. "Well, Mikasa's cooking skills are so good that it made my stomach upset" I told her sarcastically. "But her cooking was pretty good." Hanji said in a matter of fact tone. "You can't be serious. It tasted like horse shit" I told her with wide eyes. "Tiana, could you elaborate on the symptoms you are having?" Hanji said to me in a serious tone. "Well, I'm puking every morning, everything tastes like shit except tea and steamed potatoes." I stated. Hanji was already noting everything down on a notebook. "When did you have your periods?" she asked. "Well, it was... last month..." I trailed off. I was late for periods by about one and half week. My periods were never irregular. "When are you supposed to have periods this month?" Hanji asked. "I was supposed to have it a bit more than a week back." I answered. I didn't like where things were going. "Do you usually have irregular periods?" she asked. "No." I answered. I was praying that what I was thinking is wrong. "Did Levi forget to pull out?" she asked. "Huh? What? " I got jerked back into reality by that. "Relax Tiana. I figured it out. Levi never calls you 'brat', he actually gives you private self defence lessons, I noticed that he talks to you a lot, you never seem to complain about him like normal people and I got upstairs the other night to borrow a book and didn't find you in your room and you were pretty loud in Levi's room and I could hear you from the hallway upstairs." she explained as I gaped at her. I remembered that day. It basically was the only day when I was actually loud.

_One week ago:_

_I found him sitting by his desk when I entered his room. He noticed me enter and motioned me to go to his bed. I did what he said and sat on the bed. He came to me a few minutes later after arranging the paperwork he was working on. "I taught you everything about the type of sex I like except one. I can't teach you this one because this is something you need to be okay with and learn to enjoy it yourself." he said. "What is it?" I asked with excitement. Everything he taught me so far, including bondage, enjoying any sort of pain he inflicted on me by spanking or slapping or using sex toys, etc, I found them quiet enjoyable. "I want you to submit to me. I want you to be okay with any way I treat you during sex. I could treat you like a godess or just another whore. I want you to enjoy everything I do to you either way and act_ _the way Im treating you. If I'm treating you like a goddess, you will just sit back and enjoy everything I do to you. If I treat you like a whore, you have to beg me for my attention. Either way, I'm the one in charge here and you have to accept that. Can you do that for me?" he explained. I didn't know if this would turn me on or not. "You'll treat me like any whore?" I asked him calmly. "Yes" he answered. "So, you'll treat me like what I was. Even you see me like that don't you?" I barely whispered. I felt betrayed because I trusted that he would treat me right. I never expected this of him. "Tiana, this is just for sex. When we are done, I'll be back to just Levi. And I'll not do any of these if you don't want me to. If you want, we can keep things as it is now. At the end, everything depends on your decision." he said to me as he pulled me into a hug. "Just, think about it. I think you need to try it out first before making a decision. I'll do it only if you allow me to." he_ _said. I thought hard about it. I remembered that he asked me to trust him and decided to do that. "Let's try it out" I said to him with a smile. He didn't waste any time and smashed his mouth onto mine. He fingered me till I almost had an orgasm and then he removed the finger and just walked back to his desk and started working. "Why did you stop?" I whined and he didn't even look at me and said, "Quit whining, brat. Convince me to waste my time on you instead and make yourself useful_._" "How do I do that, Levi?" I asked him. "It's Heichou to you, brat. Get under the desk and suck me off. I wont be helping you next time." He said monotonously as I did exactly what he asked me to do. I got him hard pretty fast but that didn't make him budge from his position. After what seemed like an eternity of me sucking his dick, he pulled my hair roughly to remove my head from his dick. "Do you want this dick in you?" he asked. "Yes Heichou." I said eagerly without any hesitation. He removed his hand from my hair and said, "Beg for it". I didn't know what to do so I said, " I want you Heichou. Please". That got me a slap across my face. "You have too much damn dignity for a whore. Ask properly" he said giving me a bored look. "Please have me Heichou" I tried again. This time, he stared at me for a while and commanded me to go_ _to the bed and lay down. I did what he said as he got some genital clamps from a drawer on his desk. He used them on my clit and two nipples and said, "If you can't get it right in three chances, you'll go back to your room without getting an orgasm. I'll pull one off you as punishment if you get it wrong." he said. I thought hard and whispered, "Heichou, please fuck me". " Close but, first, I barely heard what you said. That means you don't want it enough. Second, who are you?" he said as he pulled the clamp stuck to my clit roughly making me yelp loudly. He then massaged_ _my clit slowly which reduced the pain and gave me volts of pleasure. While doing it, he asked "Who are you?". Instead of saying my name, I figured out what he actually wanted me to say. " I'm a whore" I half moaned out. "I can't hear you. Say it loudly" he said as he gave a pinch on my clit which made me shout out "Im a whore" in a strangled moan. "Good. Whose whore are you?" he asked again while rubbing my clit again. "Yours" I moaned out. "Good. Say, who are you?" he asked me rubbing me harder. "I'm Heichou's whore" I moaned loudly. "Good girl. That's right. You're my little whore. Now beg me properly" he said with a smirk. "Heichou, please fuck your little whore" I gasped. At that, he pulled the clamp from my right breast and said, "Louder" angrily. To this I shouted, "PLEASE FUCK YOUR LITTLE WHORE, HEICHOUUUUU". He unbuckled his pants and smashed into me before I could finish. And, as he promised, he let me orgasm and fed me his semen instead of just spilling it over me. When he was done, he pulled me in a hug and asked, " How did you feel?". "I think we will be doing this a lot in future" I murmured before passing out on his chest_.

"Does anyone else know?" I asked her panicking. "Nope. I don't think anyone else will go upstairs at 12 am to knock to your door for book. They still are scared of you even if you're trying to be nice to them" she chuckled. "He did forget to pull out once... That was weeks ago..." I muttered. To that, she took a small packet from her drawer and opened it and gave me a small weird looking strip of paper that had plastic and some symbols around it. "Find a cup and pee in it and dip the area of the strip with the small arrow sign on it. You will find some lines form on the middle of the strip. Bring it to me when you're done. I took it, did exactly what she said and brought it to her. I held it infront of her, she looked at the two lines that had appeared on the strip and said, "Tiana, you're pregnant." Before I could react to this statement, I heard Connie's surprised voice asking Hanji, "Tiana is pregnant?!". My legs gave out and I sat on the ground. This can't be happening. This has to be a bad dream. "Yes she is. What is it? Did Nifa come back after giving news about Nick's death to Erwin?" Hanji asked Connie. "Yes she came back with a letter. Levi Heichou wants everyone in the dining room." he said to Hanji before looking at me and asking, "Who's the father?". I didn't look at him and muttered, " I can't say...". I felt tears suddenly flow out of my eyes as I croaked out, "this isn't real. This is a bad dream...". Hanji and Connie looked at me synpathically and Hanji said, " I'm afraid it is real. I promise I'll help you go through this". "Thanks Hanji". I muttered to her and looked back at Connie and told him, "No one can know about this. Promise me.". "I swear no one will know a thing! I'll help you in any way I can too!" Connie told me nervously. Hanji helped me up as we went for the dining room. Everyone was standing there as Nifa mentioned how hard it was for her to reach Uncle Erwin as the military police was guarding his hospital room. When she somehow reached and gave Uncle Erwin the news about Nick, Uncle Erwin sent her off with a letter. He was arrested just after that and all of the regiment scouts are on a ban. The military police wouldn't take the ban off until we give up Eren and Historia. Levi commanded us to gear up and leave the safehouse immediately. We did so and then the military police came to raid the place just a while later. "We need to go to a safe place that Erwin mentioned in his letter. We will use our 3D maneuver gears for our plan to work. We will hide it with our cloaks. Eren and Historia will have body doubles and the real Eren and Historia will be on a cart, that Erwin has specifically mentioned to rent, away from us." Levi explained us the plan as Hanji interjected by saying, "We need to take some other things into consideration. It's about Tiana. She's..." I stopped her before she broke the news and said, "It's nothing important Hanji. I can fight with a bit of food poisoning". Hanji looked at me with caution and let it slide. "Alright, I'll get to Erwin with Moblet. The rest of you, follow Levi." Hanji said as she got on her horse. "Wait!" Eren shouted at Hanji before giving her a piece of paper where he wrote about a conversation he remembered from Reiner and Ymir back when he was kidnapped. With that, she left. We rode to Trost that night while I was trying to figure out if I made the right decison by not letting Levi know that his child was growing inside me.

It was afternoon when we reached Trost. A cart was rented from the place Uncle Erwin mentioned and Eren and Historia were in it. Jean and Armin were doubling as Eren and Historia. I didn't get any sleep last night and I was hungry because stopping to buy food would raise suspicions. I felt weak, dizzy and nauseatic but I tried to not let it show. Sasha took out a bread from her bag and started eating it. "You have food in your bag Sasha?" Connie exclaimed. "Yes. I brought some bread. I can't spend so much time without food" she said as she took a bite of the bread". "Oi Sasha, give that bread to Tiana." Connie told her in a pleading voice. "Huh? Why? I'm not giving my food to anyone!" she exclaimed. "Trust me on this Sasha. You'll regret not giving it later. Please" Connie pleaded for me. I looked at Sasha with pleading eyes too because I knew the baby needed it. Acting like that made me feel strange because I never pleaded anyone for sake of someone else. Sasha took my look seriously and handed me her bread. "Thanks" I murmured. Eating the bread made me feel less weak but more nauseatic. I got close to Connie and told him, "Connie, I gotta puke. Cover for me." "Okay wait." he replied as he went to Levi and said him something. Levi gave me a brief look and said something to him and he came back with a smile. "I told him that we need washroom breaks. He allowed us to go." Connie said. "Okay." I replied shortly because I felt bile flowing up my throat. We hurried to a narrow alley where I threw up while Connie held my hair so that I wont have puke all over it. When I was done, he gave me some water from his flask to wash my mouth. "I don't know how to repay you for all the help. Thank you Connie." I told him earnestly. "You don't have to repay me Tiana! You're like our big sister!" Connie told me with a smile. I smiled back at him, remembering the advice Mikasa gave me weeks back. She was right. Having people to care about you is really nice. I felt slightly better both physically and emotionally than before as we returned to the group. Suddenly, a Levi shouted at us to move from the road and a cart rushed at us and picked Jean and Armin up and left. Plan B was in motion now. "Mikasa, Tiana, go after them and see how things are going so far. We need to buy some time for Eren and Historia to get away and we need to ensure their disguises aren't discovered" Levi commanded us and we used our 3DMG to follow them. I noticed that all the movement made me dizzy but I tried my best to focus. They reached a warehouse and took Jean and Armin inside. We looked through the window and after a while, a guy started to touch Armin thinking thats Historia. "We need to inform this to Heichou. Their disguises will be seen soon at this rate" I told Mikasa and we flew up on a roof where Levi was sitting. Mikasa briefed him about everything and asked him how his leg is. I didn't talk to him because I was feeling guilty about lying to him. He told Mikasa and me to take action and told me to give a message to everyone.

We reached that building and infiltrated it. Mikasa and I knocked out the guards with single kicks and waited behind the huge boxes in the Warehouse. A few more people got in after a while and Mikasa and I knocked them out too. I took out the leader and two subordinates and Mikasa took out the others. The leader tried to shoot me with a gun which was in his coat buy Sasha shot an arrow at the gun and stopped him. We tied them up and I said to everyone, "Now that we are done here, Heichou gave me a message to give you all..."

Levi POV

I was sitting down behind the bar hiding from Kenny. "So, blowing heads off my team is your new hobby?" I asked him. "Hmm. Adults do things that little runts like you won't understand. Oops, my bad, you're so tiny that it's hard to believe you've grown up. You apparently also got yourself a little lady didn't you?" Kenny laughed. They knew. I felt like my heart stop. They will use her to bait me or something. "I don't know what you're talking about" I said calmly. "Oh so a certain Tiana Hertz mean nothing to you? I remember hearing that she even started a bar fight over you" Kenny scoffed. He had more information than I thought. Kenny was talking about how I am as bad as him when I turned a bottle of wine to see his reflection. I took the gun that bar owners have for self defence and used that reflection to shoot him. He had a chair so I was sure it didn't hit him. I used another chair as distraction, killed a man because he made the mistake of getting caught up by the distraction and used his body to shield the bullets other two men shot at me and killed them both. I flew towards where the cart could be and found it pretty quickly. I had to warn Tiana to stay away from the cart or any threat. I could see the others coming towards me and the cart too. I let them know that three of us were already killed and not to hesitate to kill anyone if they get the chance. No one except Tiana and Mikasa said "Roger". "Jean, Armin go get the cart. Mikasa, assist them. Tiana, stay away from the cart or any threat. You're a target now too." I told Tiana as she looked at me with surprise. Suddenly, another military police members got on the cart along with the driver who pointed her gun towards Jean. The other one was going for Armin. Tiana, just as I anticipated, didn't follow my order and went to save them. She killed the man with his gun pointing at Armin and Armin shot the woman who had her gun pointed at Jean. Suddenly, I saw Tiana sitting down on the cart with her hands clutching her head. More military police caught up with the cart and I pushed Jean out of the cart while Sasha pushed Armin out. Mikasa was supposed to get Tiana out but she missed her because she laid down on the cart suddenly becoming unconscious. Mikasa tried to follow then but I had to stop her and myself. Kenny's plan worked perfectly.

We went back to the abandoned building that Erwin instructed us to go to. The people who were trying to kidnap the doubles of Eren and Historia were tied up there. I was furious and worried about Tiana. I explained Armin that he wasn't wrong by shooting that woman a while ago. We sat in silence for a while before Mikasa broke the silence by saying, "We could've saved them if you had let me go, Levi Heichou..." I looked at her coldly and said, "No you couldn't save them. They were almost at the gate.". "My friends were there. We could've saved them if you helped me. But ofcourse, you don't care." Mikasa muttered. Loosing Eren again took a toll on her. "Don't just assume shit" I answered to that. "Now that the military police know about things anyway, there's no reason to hide this anymore. Tiana and I are in a relationship. So, Mikasa, you're not the only one who lost someone special to you. Now, stop acting like a child and accept the fact that there was nothing we could've done." I told Mikasa glaring at her. For some reason, everyone looked at Jean after I told them about Tiana and myself. "Why are you brats looking at him?" I asked them. "No reason!" Jean shouted out nervously. "Uh, Heichou?" I heard Connie call me. " What is it?" I asked him. "Tiana wanted me to keep this a secret but in this situation, I don't think I should given that you told us about her. Tiana was pregnant Heichou." he blurted out. I felt like someone punched me in the guts. Hard. My face clearly showed the shock that I was in and everyone looked at me showing different emotions like being shocked that even I can feel things or being sympathetic about the fact that I couldn't protect her. I buried my face in my palms. I couldn't loose her. I had a child now? I wasn't ready for this but I couldn't loose my child too. This probably was my only chance I had at having a normal life because I could never build up the courage to start a family by myself. Situation had to force me towards it at some point and it was doing that right when Tiana wasn't with me. Suddenly I remembered that she had that pocket knife with her. I made her hide it in her panties so that no one would find it if she's searched. I remembered saying Farlan and Isabelle that I trusted them. I remembered how my trust was broken. However, this time... "I trust her. She will make it out of there" I told everyone. I had no other option than to believe in her.


	16. Acceptance

Tiana POV

Damn those 3DMGs... After using those for a while, I suddenly felt so dizzy that I passed out. Right on that cart. I recovered fairly quickly but just when I did, someone injected me with something. I was already tied up and drowsy so I couldn't fight. When I regained my consciousness, I was tied to a chair, my 3DMG was taken off and there were six men standing infront of me. "So you're Tiana Hertz eh? Humanity's strongest woman? That runt really got himself some good meat." a very tall man chuckled. My mouth was gagged so I couldn't give a reply. I just glared at him. "I don't know if you know me. I'm Kenny. Now that I know that Levi has a thing for you, I'll keep you nice and tied up here so that I can kill him when he comes to get you. Meanwhile, you can enjoy the company of these fine lads" Kenny chuckled again as he got out of the door. One of those five men came close to me and told the others with a laugh, "Captain gave us permission. We really should enjoy this one". Saying that, he started groping me. I almost tried to protest but then I remembered that I had a pocket knife in my panties. Levi made me keep it with me when we were gearing up before leaving the safehouse. My hands were tied behind me and there was a gap on the chair right above my ass. I slipped my hand in my pants as calmly as possible, while one more person joined him to grope me. One of them took of my scarf and saw the hickeys that Levi left. " Darn it! Marked women aren't attractive!" one of them grunted. "Well, we can bite her and leave worse marks" another chimed in and one of them bit my neck really hard. It hurted like hell and I did not enjoy it because it felt exactly like how everything felt when I was underground. I yelped at that, gritting my teeth to stop myself from crying. I reached the pocket knife somehow and got it out of my pants and unsheathed it. I slowly cut the rope tying my hands and then the rope that was tying my torso to the chair. The guards didn't notice because they were too busy groping me and biting me. It took about 30 seconds for the whole process but I decided that I had to wait till Kenny is gone.

_A few weeks back:_

_Levi and I were standing on the clearing of the safehouse. He was training me to use knives. "If you can defeat me with only a pocket knife while I have a sword, you would be good enough to survive against Kenny with a knife. What everything I learned about using knives was from Kenny. I don't expect you to be that good but I want you to be able to take on 3-5 people with a pocket knife. I only won against Erwin in sword duels a few times because I had years of experience. You won't have that and good for you, you won't have to face either Erwin or Kenny. Now, focus." Levi told me as a pep talk. His pep talks were more discouraging than encouraging._

I decided I had to wait for about five minutes before whatever there was outside the room was clear. I had limited time to cut everyone open and strap into their 3DMGs that have guns attached. I endured absolute hell for five more minutes and when I was done, I, without any warning, slit the throats of the two men closest to me with one swash. One body fell down and I kept another on top of me to shield the bullets. I used the knife to cut the rope that tied my legs and used the body to run up to the closest soldier, slit his throat, threw the chair at one of the two soldiers left and ran up to the other with the body of the soldier whose throat I just slit and threw the body on him and got on his back when he was loosing balance and put my knife on his throat but suddenly, the other soldier ran towards him and snatched the knife from me. He thought he got me but I snapped this guy's spine with a kick on that I gave by swinging on his neck and kicked the last soldier on his face, picked the knife up and slit his throat too. It took 7 minutes approximately. I had three minutes at max to strap up to the 3DMG. I did that as fast as possible in about 4 minutes and also took the most filled tank and took all of their unused bullets. I opened the door to find two soldiers running towards the door in the hallway but instead of shooting them, I flew towards them and slit their throats with my knife. I didn't want to attract Kenny's attention. I already felt nauseaous and dizzy for using the 3DMG but I kept myself calm and in control. I saw a window in the hallway and opened it, shot towards it twice to break the grille and flew out. I was still in Trost but in the military building for the interior squad. They had their own buildings in every major city. I got the attention of the MPs already and they chased me. I knew that I couldn't afford a 3DMG chase because I felt dizzier by the minute, so, I changed my direction towards the market place, went through several narrow alleys between buildings and lost their tail for a second and got into a clothing store. An old lady was at the counter who looked at me with shock as I rushed towards her and told her in a pleading voice, "Please help me! They will kill me. I need a place to hide.". She saw the marks on my neck that clearly stated that I was physically abused not long ago and she said, " Okay my dear, into the dressing room. Now.". I rushed into the room she showed me. Suddenly I saw her throwing a blue cloak over the door with a blonde wig. "Wear these." she instructed. I did as she said, wearing the navy blue long cloak and the blonde wig. "Come out when you're done dear and wash off all the blood on your face and hands in the bathroom. You will attract attention if you don't" she told me in a soothing voice. I did as she said and I honestly looked very different except fot the marks on my neck. When I came out of the bathroom, she gave me a grey scarf to cover it. I searched in my pocket and found my purse. I didn't have much in there because I didn't get a chance to collect my paycheck. I only had three gold coins. I gave those to her and told her, "Ma'am, I could never repay you for your kindness. Please take these coins. They are all I have now. I promise I'll pay the rest as soon as I can..." she interjected me and said, "I know who you are. You're Tiana Hertz from the scouts. My dear, everyone has heard of your bravery. I'm honoured to help you. You young people give your lives for humanity and this is the least I could do for you". I didn't know how to answer to that so I smiled at her and muttered, " Thank you. I have to go now" and left the shop. I saw the military police looking for me but the wig saved me. I knew what location to go to because Levi explained us the plan about where everyone will go to. It was night, the market streets were still pretty busy but they won't be a while later. I knew I couldn't borrow a horse or anything because that could blow our cover. I had to walk to the forest in which the new safehouse stood. It took a while, the streets were empty when I got close. I got inside the forest and used 3DMG to get in further even if that made me feel dizzy to speed up the process. When I reached, it was late. There were lights inside the house and I knocked the front door. I took the wig off so that they would recognise me. There was no sound for a while till someone cracked the door to see who's knocking and the door flung open and Jean stood there with Connie and Sasha. Sasha pulled me in a brief hug asking me if I was okay, etc. "Get me a place to sit" I muttered as they took me in there to the dining room and let me sit, giving me water and bread. I started eating those like my life depended on it. I could hear screams of agony in the background but I wasn't feeling good enough to give heed to it. I didn't even notice that Connie disappeared from the room. A moment later, Levi entered the room along with Eren, Mikasa, Armin and Connie. "So, you're back." he said with his cold tone dripping with sarcasm. I looked at him with a surprised expression. I expected him to ask me if I'm okay. "So, you feel like not answering your squad leader is completely fine. Then again, you seem to disobey my orders without any issue." he told me in his cold voice again. "I'm sorry heichou, I felt like you stated a fact instead of asking a question. I don't know how to answer to facts. About the order, two lives were at risk. I did what any second in command would do because they are my subordinates too. Infact, under the Survey corps rulebook, section 4, a second in command can make their own decisions in case of life or death situations..." I continued formally and coldly when Levi stopped me with his hand slamming on the table as he talked quietly and menacingly, "Are you fucking kidding me? I know what the fucking rulebook says! My point is, how the fuck can you make such an absurd decision like that in your current condition?!". My eyes widened at that. I noticed everyone standing around us silently, quiet perplexed by the tension in the room. " What do you mean by my 'current condition'?" I asked quietly. Levi continued to give me his cold stare and said, "You really thought I won't find out you're pregnant?". I knew I would be in big trouble now. I calmed myself down and looked at everyone else in the room and told them, "Could you all give us some privacy?". They all murmured an yes and rushed out of the room. Levi and I were alone in the room. The uncomfortable silence was broken by myself when I said, " I didn't want to worry you by letting you know about it. You already had a lot of burden on yourself..." I tried to reason with him but he stopped me and said, "How do you think I feel right now? I feel like a complete failure as a partner and..." I saw him hesitate for a while before he continued, "and as a father.". "I'm sorry" I blurted out. "I couldn't live with the blood of my comrades on my hand. Not when I could've saved them. I should've told you about the pregnancy. It would've helped you make plans better. I found out very recently too and everything got messed up so suddenly..." I tried to reason with him. He didn't reply for a while. I knew he was trying to calm down. I knew that he needed time to adjust to the whole situation. Even if he is the strongest man of humanity, he still is human. "Could you live with the blood of your kid on your hand?" he asked me softly. "No. I can't. That's why I'm alive..." I started when I remembered about the injection. "Levi, I need to see Hanji. They gave me an injection that made me pass out. I don't know if it will harm the...baby." It felt weird to talk about...it. I still couldn't believe I was going to have a child. I saw a glimpse of concern in Levi's eye. "I'll send Hanji as soon as she comes. She is supposed to arrive soon." he told me. There was another awkward silence before I asked him, "Do you want the kid?". He looked at me as if I just asked him the most stupid question ever. "Tiana, why do you think I shouted at you for making a completely rational decision?". I smiled at his answer. He wanted it too. "I'll tell Sasha to boil some water for you. You need a shower. You look like shit." he told me before walking out of the room.

Levi POV

I was torturing Sannes when Hanji arrived. She tried to join me but I stopped her and said, " Tiana escaped them. They injected her with something to make her unconscious. I need you to check if it affects the baby in any way". "You know? She told you?" Hanji asked with surprise. She was pretty sure that Tiana wouldn't tell me about it, atleast, not yet. "No she didn't. I heard it from Connie. Tch! If she just talked to me about it, I wouldn't let them kidnap her or inject her with some sort of crap that might harm the baby". I grumbled. "I'll go check on her. Are you coming?" Hanji asked. "Yeah coming". I muttered as I took the bloody apron off and followed her. Tiana already took a bath and was wearing her own normal clothes. We all kept our bags in the warehouse before going into combat. We collected those and Reeves from there later. I sat on a chair in the room next to the bed where Tiana was lying on. She was in my room, ofcourse. There were many rooms in this house. Four bedrooms, two of them had one bed in each and the other two had three bed in one, and two bed in one room. Hanji took one of the rooms with one bed and I took the other. Moblet and the male members of my squad were staying at the room with three beds and the female members of my squad were in the room with two beds. There was a spare room which we used as a torture room. There was, ofcourse the dining room and the kitchen and a small underground dungeon. Hanji was doing a blood test on Tiana. She somehow always has her equipments in her bag no matter what the situation is. She mixed her blood in some chemical and declared that it was a mild sedative which won't harm the child. Tiana was sleeping, probably because she was too tired from the events from the morning. I decided to go back to torturing Sannes when Hanji was checking Tiana's temperature and some other stuff to make sure she's completely fine. I noticed the bite marks on her neck as she was sleeping. "What did they do to her..." I thought grimly. I was pretty sure they laid their hands on her and I intended to cut their hands off and feed them to dogs. She just had to say the name. I took one last look at her and left the room. Even after going through so much, she still managed to look like the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. On the way back to the torture room, I told Mikasa to wake Tiana up in time for dinner and give her the news Hanji gave me about the sedative not being harmful. After a while, Hanji arrived the torture room and apologised for being late and literally jumped onto torturing Sannes.

No one's POV

Mikasa woke Tiana up when dinner was cooked as instructed by Levi. The first thing Tiana asked after waking up was about the injection. Mikasa gave her the news about it being harmless. "How did things go with Levi Heichou?" she asked Tiana. "We sorted things out. By the way, did Connie tell Levi about the...you know.." Tiana tried to ask Mikasa about the baby but hesitated because she felt uncomfortable about the whole thing. "Yes but don't kill him" Mikasa told Tiana as she smiled at her. "Well, I was intending to but we need all squad members" Tiana sighed. The two girls went downstairs to the dining room. Everyone except Hanji and Levi was eating. Hanji and Levi still were busy torturing Sannes. As Tiana sat beside everyone else, everyone became silent. Mikasa calmed everyone down by mentioning that things were okay between Levi and Tiana. "Oi Connie?" Tiana called Connie out calmly while eating as Connie gulped. "Didn't you promise me to keep your mouth shut?" Tiana asked him in a calm tone. "Uh, you see, I felt that it would be wise to tell Levi Heichou since he told us about you... I'm so sorry Tiana! Please forgive me!" Connie looked scared to death. To that, Tiana smiled and said, "Seems like you actually made a good decision Connie. Levi would've killed me himself if I told him about it later. You really aren't as dumb as I thought". "Huh?" Connie said looking confused. "Well, I guess I'll take the last sentence back" Tiana remarked at that. Everyone laughed at that except Jean, who made a serious face, looked straight at Tiana and asked, "So, you're already in first name basis with him.". Everyone including Tiana was thrown aback by Jeans sudden serious demeanour. "Why are you stating the obvious?" Tiana asked Jean calmly. She just didn't understand why Jean hated Levi so much. "You really never noticed me did you?" Jean sighed loudly. "Noticed you? Apart from you fighting with Eren constantly, misbehaving with your mother back in the trainee corps days and being called 'Jean-boy',and, recently complaining about how bad Levi treats me, what else was there to notice?" Tiana asked looking confused. "You never noticed that I never fought back when we sparred back in the trainee corps days? Or the fact that I always helped to point out the dummy titans in our combat training exercises and I always happened to be around you? I even complimented your hair the first day we talked! I complained about Levi because I was worried that he would hurt you! But ofcourse, you got together with him even if he probably never showed any positive feelings towards you! Instead of asking you if you're okay after being kidnapped, he blamed you for everything! And you got knocked up by that guy. How do you even know that he wont leave you later?.." Jean stopped when he noticed the sympathetic look on everyone's face except Tiana's, who's eyes looked like she was pleading someone to spare someone's life. Looking at the direction everyone was looking at, Jean sighed and said, "Levi Heichou is standing behind me. Right?". "Yes he is. Muck the stables till your hands get raw. I'll cut your hands off if I find a spot tommorow. Don't even think about dinner tonight. If you can, spend the night with the horses. After all, you look like one too." he heard Levi's voice from behind him. "Hai!" he said as he got up and saluted and went for the stable. Levi sat down for dinner with Hanji joining us a while later. She revealed the idea about making the other military police they caught read a script because Sannes wouldn't talk. The idea was already implemented before they came for dinner. The rest of the dinner went quietly because no one was brave enough to talk with a pissed Levi around. Everyone went to bed after dinner except Levi and Hanji, who went to get Sannes to talk. Tiana decided to go to bed but instead went to the stable to find Jean. Jean was muttering curses at Levi while cleaning the stable when Tiana found him. "Jean?" she called him out. "Sorry for my behaviour during dinner." Jean muttered. "It's okay. I'm sorry that he got you into this." Tiana apologised too. After an awkward silence, Jean spoke up saying, "I still want to know why it was him instead of me.". Tiana looked right into Jean's eyes and asked him, "What would you do if I talked to you about my past? I killed that garrison soldier because he tried to take advantage of me. I spent seven years underground in a brothel. I was five when they made me serve customers. How would you comfort me from that?". Jean was taken aback by Tiana's sudden confession about her past as well as the question. "Well, I would tell you that I'll protect you from anything like that. I'll make sure you forget the bad past with an amazing future." Jean replied after thinking for a while. "This is the reason why I chose Levi. Never promised me a good future or protection because he knows the future can't be decided. He never said he can make me forget my past too because anyone who lived in the underground knows that you can't forget that place. What he said was that I'm strong enough to protect myself now and that's what matters. He taught me to be stronger even if that hurted me. That's why I'm alive today. He shouts at me because he cares and doesn't want me to make mistakes. If he wasn't serious about me, he wouldn't shout at me for making a good decision. He only did that because he was worried about me and the...baby." Tiana answered softly. Jean didn't know how to answer to that because she was right. "I'm sorry Jean. You deserve someone who isn't as complicated as I am." Tiana told him with a sympathetic smile. "You're right. I wish the best for you. Can't say the same for Levi Heichou though since he's killing me here" Jean chuckled. To that, Tiana got her hand in her pocket and pulled a bread out. She got that from the kitchen for Jean on her way out. "Here, take this as an apology in behalf of Levi. I had to steal it from the kitchen" Tiana said as she handed the bread over to Jean. Jean took the bread, muttered a thank you and before he took a bite, the stable door opened and Levi stepped in and said, "That was a wonderful speech but I still can't allow him to eat. That's part of the punishment.". Jean quickly tried to hand the bread back to Tiana but she looked at him and said, "No. Keep it" before turning back to Levi and saying, "It will take a while for him to get done with cleaning the stable. We don't want weakened soldiers in case of any sudden attacks.". Levi looked at her for a few moments before answering, "You're right. However, Hanji and I have an announcement to make. Jean, meet us at the dining room when you're done eating and cleaning yourself up". To that, Jean muttered an okay and waved at Tiana. Tiana smiled at him and waved back. On their way back to the dining room, Tiana asked Levi, "Now that you know why I chose to be with you, I want to know why you chose to be with me.". To that, Levi chuckled and said, "Pregnancy is getting you soft. The Tiana I knew would've never asked that". "Right. So soft that I killed 5 people in 7 minutes." Tiana scoffed at that. "Were those the people you gave you those marks on your neck?" Levi asked with a dark tone. To that, Tiana answered, "Yes.". "Well, that's a job well done for beginners. Try to make it in five minutes next time. If you didn't kill them already, I'd have done it and fed them to dogs." Levi told Tiana in a monotonous voice. A frown formed on Tiana's face as she told Levi, "You still didn't answer my question". "Well, I wanted to be with someone who has a high chance of survival but isn't some shitty housewife too because I want to be with someone who can keep up with me. Other than that, I guess I wanted someone who would understand what's in my mind without me having to dictate everything." Levi answered to Tiana before asking, "The things you told Jean, were those true?". Before answering to Levi's question, Tiana mocked him by saying, "Seems like my pregnancy is making you soft too. That isn't the Levi I know" with a chuckle. Levi made his usual grumpy face at that and said, "Shut up and answer the question". " Yes. That was true." Tiana answered. They reached the dining room. Hanji and Levi announced that the Reiss family was the true Royal family. Sannes confirmed it. Everyone was shocked by the news specially because no one ever imagined that Historia is the true heir. Hanji also mentioned that Eren could be eaten. Mikasa cringed at the thought and tried to get out of the room. Levi talked some sense into her about how going on a rampage won't work. It was planned that Levi squad would move to one of the Reiss family lands at dawn and Hanji will immediately go to Erwin with Moblet to give news about Sannes's confession.

When we were done, Levi and I returned to our room and a while later, both laid down on the bed, together. A few moments later, Tiana noticed Levi's hand run into her hair, gently patting her head as her face was on his chest. "You've done really well, Tiana. I'm proud of you." he sighed. An uncharacteristically huge smile formed on Tiana's face as she muttered a "Thank you" before passing out.

[AUTHOR'S NOTE: I felt like I should explain the timing of everything that happened since it all happened in one day.

3:00PM-Tiana got kidnapped

4:00PM-Levi questioned Reeves

5:00PM- Tiana escaped the military police.

6:00PM- Sannes and Ralph were kidnapped

8:00PM- Tiana arrived at the safehouse.

9:00PM- Hanji arrives at the safehouse

10:00PM- Dinner is set, Hanji and Levi tricks Sannes.

10:30- Dinner is over. Sannes confesses immediately. He is sent to share a cell with Ralph. Levi says Hanji to report to everyone about Sannes's confession and goes to look for Tiana

11:00 Hanji sets out with Moblet to give the news to Erwin. Everyone else goes to bed.]


	17. Uprising

Tiana POV

"Oi Tiana?Tiana? Get your lazy ass up!" I woke up to Levi's voice. "What's the time?" I groaned as I got up. "It's almost dawn. Everyone is already geared up. I told Armin to saddle your horse and I packed your bag with mine. Your cloak and fresh clothes are on the chair with the wig you got yesterday. Wear them." he commanded and went out of the room. Why didn't he wake me with everyone else? Why do I get to wear a wig and have a better chance of survival? I didn't question him because I decided that there wasn't much time to loose. I did exactly what he said, folded my clothes from last night and kept them in my bag. I hung the bag on my shoulder and went to the stable. Everyone was already on their respectable horses except Levi who was infront of his and my own horse. "Sorry for being late.." I murmured towards everyone as I went for my horse. Before I got up, however, someone grabbed the bag from my back and when I looked back, I saw Levi taking my bag away and getting up on his horse. "Why did you take my bag?" I asked in complete confusion because that was the last thing I expected him to do. "I don't want you to take too much stress. Get on your horse." he commanded without looking at me. "But..." I started but he cut me off and said, "Don't question me." and trotted off. I was still in utter confusion as I listened to him and got on my horse and followed him with the rest of the group. We were going by roads into the forest because the military police were still looking for us and Kenny was at large.

It took us one whole day to avoid the military police and reach the Reiss territory. During the journey, a couple of things pissed me off but I didn't make a big deal out of it. Firstly, Levi gave me extra rations of food. I felt like it was unfair because Sasha clearly didn't try to hide her disappointment. I agreed with her in this case. I would just throw up what I eat anyway but I knew better than talking back at Levi. He already had a lot of burden on himself. Secondly, I offered to go check the roads before everyone since I had a good disguise. Levi didn't even consider the option and that got us in many strategic disadvantage and we almost got caught several times. Even in the forest roads, the military police had checkpoints. We underestimated them. I didn't understand why Levi was restricting me so much and giving me special treatment. I felt like an useless burden to the team due to his behavior. It was night when we reached a clearing inside a small forest like area in the Reiss territory. It was a cold night. "We will camp here. Get your sleeping bags out. This place by the rock is clean enough.." Levi said with an unsatisfactory tone. Ofcourse, that man was the biggest clean freak ever. We all got our sleeping bags out and ate dinner. Again, Levi forced me to eat extra bread. I kept quiet about it again because I knew that he was already unhappy about the sleeping arrangement. "Sasha, Jean, keep watch while the others sleep. Stay up for two hours and then Connie and Mikasa will be on watch for two more hours. I'll be up after that" Levi commanded. "But, heichou, you forgot to mention when I'll be on watch" I chimed in. I assumed that old rule of me calling him heichou infront of everyone still stands. He looked at me for a brief moment and said, "You're not gonna be on watch.". " But..." I tried to ask why but he he stopped me and told me again, "Don't question me." He paused for a while and then said, "You won't be needing your sleeping bag. Roll it up. You're using mine." and saying that, he went away leaving me unsure about how to react since he just said it infront of everyone. Everyone pretended that they didn't hear anything though, most probably to ensure that I won't feel embarassed, except for Jean who went away giving half of his dinner to Sasha.

After a while, when everyone was done freshening up at the stream nearby, I went towards Levi's sleeping bag. Levi was still busy washing his hands and legs with an extremely annoyed expression due to the amount of dirt in in this place. I got into the slight warmth of the sleeping bag. It still felt cold when I was almost drifting off to sleep when I felt someone enter the sleeping bag, immediately warming the whole place up. I knew it was Levi because he always managed to smell good no matter what the situation is. "You smell disgusting" I heard Levi grunt behind me as he wrapped me into an embrace from behing making me feel incredibly warm and comfortable. I didn't answer to that and enjoyed the warmth he emmited onto me and fell asleep.

No one's POV

Jean was sitting on a tree and keeping watch. The fact that Levi literally commanded Tiana to sleep with him, and that Tiana didn't even get a chance to voice her opinion disturbed him. "I still don't understand why she's with him" he thought. Tiana was sleeping in Levi's sleeping bag alone. Jean looked at her from up there for a while. "She looks as beautiful as always" he sighed. He knew he stood no chance but he couldn't just shake away the fact that she was beautiful. A little while later, he saw Levi walking towards the sleeping bag. He averted his eyes because the sight of Levi with Tiana made him jealous. He looked at the clearing outside of the forest for a while when his eyes betrayed him and looked back at Tiana and Levi. Tiana was almost invisible since she snuggled next to Levi facing him with her face buried in his chest. The sight made Jean both jealous and incredibly surprised as he noticed a slight movement of Levi's hand on Tiana's head. Levi was patting Tiana's head? Somehow, it seemed completely out of character for the cold hearted captain. "I guess that grumpy bastard does have feelings for her" Jean thought sourly.

The next morning:

Tiana woke up to the sound of everyone else around her. Everyone was already having breakfast and she was pissed because Levi didn't wake her up on time again. She had difficulty waking up on her own nowadays. She washed her face from the stream, puked on a tree, washed her mouth and joined everyone else to have breakfast. When we were done, Levi said, "Armin, Jean, Mikasa, go to the town nearby to get supplies. Try to get news about recent events too. There must be a reason for which the military police are literally on forest roads". As he said that, Tiana started, " But heichou, Mikasa has a very unique face and she will be recognised easily. I should go with my disguise. If one of us is caught, we will be in greater disadvantage". Levi looked at her for a while and simply stated, "Mikasa is going. I already made that decision". Suddenly, Tiana felt a surge of anger flow through her and she shouted at Levi directly on his face, "Why are you not letting me do anything important? You're making me a fucking burden to the squad! Starting from giving me extra rations to not waking me up on time, you are not treating everyone fairly! Do you really think I can't take the pressure of being on the run? I thought you felt like I'm a strong person and now you're treating me like some fucking child who's good at nothing! Why the hell are you doing this?". Levi looked at Tiana with a calm and bored face the whole time and when she stopped, Levi said, "Are you done whining like a fucking kid?". Tiana didn't know how to answer to that and just glared at him. "Oh shit! Are they gonna fight? I heard that their duels are worth watching!" Sasha whispered to Connie with excitement whereas Connie just replied with a "Shut up Sasha!". The tension in the air was intensified when Levi said calmly but coldly, "I can't believe you don't understand why I'm doing this. I thought someone who spent so much time with Erwin would have some common sense. You're fucking pregnant Tiana. I know you can take the pressure but do you seriously think that baby can? I thought you'd know some fucking biology given that you read books. Do you even read anything useful? Mikasa is going with Jean and Armin. Not you. Instead of questioning every fucking decision I make, use your excuse of a head for a change.". Suddenly, Tiana understood the meaning of everything Levi was doing. Levi already walked away from the place and Mikasa, Armin and Jean went off to the town. Tiana felt like she was the most stupid person in existance and that she messed up big time, so, she ran after Levi who stormed off towards the stream.

Levi POV

Her stupidity was what pissed me off. I liked that she could strongly voice her opinion if required and also liked the fact that she challenged me but I never expected her to act so stupidly. I went towards the stream to enjoy the quietness. I needed some alone time to calm down. However, I heard the noise of leaves and knew that someone was coming this way. I waited till the sound came close enough and turned back to see a guilty looking Tiana. "I'm sorry. I should've trusted your judgement. It was a really stupid thing to do.." she tried to say but I kissed her on her lips harshly to show just how frustrated she makes me. She was taken aback by the kiss at first but then she kissed back. I kissed her till I felt more calm. "Don't do anything like that again" I muttered to her as she looked shyly at me and answered with an "okay" before going back to our camping ground. I went back too after a few moments. When I reached, she was sitting on the rock, looking completely bored. "Tiana, get up a tree and keep watch." I commanded her. Even if I had every reason to be concerned about her, she was right about the fact that I was taking things too far.

Armin, Mikasa and Jean was back after a while. They brought news that all survey corps members including Erwin are jailed. We are the most wanted criminals now. Hanji and Moblet escaped arrest somehow as they were in the most wanted list too. I assumed that Erwin had a plan. Armin expressed his concern about our shortage of time and I mentioned that Eren is still safe since they are travelling by wagon and that will take one more day. "I hear footsteps! Someone is coming this way!" Sasha said just as Tiana quietly got down from the tree and said, "Two military police soldiers are coming this way. By looks, they seem to be cadets". " Everyone, get up the trees except Armin. Armin, you go to the stream with buckets. Tiana, come with me. We will have to maneuver down and get our swords at their throats. Take a sword from Mikasa since your maneuver gear doesn't have one. We will be on the trees beside the stream." I commanded as everyone climbed up the trees. The plan went smoothly.

I talked to the mp cadets named Marlo and Hitch about Annie being the female titan. After stripping them of their 3DMGs, I planned to send Sasha initially to test their loyalty but ended up sending Jean because he asked and I wanted him to get hit by one of them. I personally disliked him because he had a thing for Tiana. "You sent him because he'll get hurt somehow. Right?" Tiana asked me with a smug look. "Seems like you're using your head again" I answered to that as we were waiting for Jean to return. As expected, he returned with a swollen head to my delight. Marlo and Hitch informed us about the least protected and closest mp outpost that had someone from the interior. Our plan was to raid the place. Before going into action, I thanked them for their help. "Tiana? I want to see how good you got with swords after our knife training. We will only injure their limbs in a way so that it can be fixed later. I taught Tiana about it so we will be in cutting duty. Mikasa, Jean you will keep watch of our camping ground. Armin, Connie, Sasha you three will be in charge of the distraction. We need a horse and a wagon." I explained the plan.

This plan was beyond successful. Tiana's cutting skills were as impressive as ever. She manages to bring perfection into everything by sheer hardwork unlike myself. I just always was good at fighting or anything related to that. Everyone in average did good. The only thing left was to torture the guy into talking. I've been doing it for a while but he wouldn't talk. "Should I help?" I heard Tiana's voice. "I really am in mood for this. They arrested Uncle Erwin right? Who knows what he's going through now for these bastards..." she continued. "Go ahead" I replied monotonously. After all, I couldn't get anything out of his mouth anyway. I decided to take a break. I watched Tiana go towards him, take a deep breath and kick the man's face almost as hard as myself, breaking his nose. Then she took her pocket knife and started inserting the tip of it under his nails. "I wish I could heat it but this will have to do.." she muttered. The military police wailed in agony and I felt both surprised and impressed that Tiana got so good with knives. "I don't care if you don't talk. I'm only doing this because you people tried to kill us, got my uncle in jail and had those people kidnap me and molest me. I want everyone who sees you next to know that you're a repulsive human who doesn't deserve to live." Tiana spat with hatred. " Atleast I'm human! You people are monsters!" he cried. "If you're human, I'm glad I'm not." she spat at him with hatred. "Heichou, I'll probably kill him if he's anywhere near me. It's better if you take charge." she told me after that with her usual monotone voice. "Calm down. I'll take care of this piece of shit" I said to her as I went forward to continue my torture. He started talking after a while.

Tiana POV

I felt good as Levi beat the guy into a pulp. I did my part but I was about to loose my control. I noticed that I was having a hard time keeping my emotions in check. It was probably because of the pregnancy. He started talking when Levi's beating, along with the bleeding of my cuts got worse. He mentioned that "Kenny Ackerman" doesn't give out important information. I was as surprised as Levi and Mikasa at that reveal. "Ackerman?" Levi asked in a monotoned but curious voice. "I know Kenny. Is that his last name?" he continued. "It is.. But.." the military police tried to talk but Levi stopped him and said, "True. There's a lot of things he doesn't divulge. Especially the important stuff. But you must have a rough idea. You best try to remember.. " he continued as the military police cried "stop it!" but Levi ignored him and continued, "You still have plenty of bones to break". " You.. You're insane!" the military police cried. To that, Levi simply said, "Maybe I am."

Hanji arrived after a while. We thought we were caught but that was not the case. The Coup d'état that Uncle Erwin planned was successful. It was decided that Eren and Historia were held in the Reiss chapel. "Tiana, go back to Orvud district. That's the closest safe space from here. I don't want you anywhere near Kenny." Levi said to me before turning at Hanji to ask if Moblet can take me there. I wanted to question his command because I didn't want to feel useless but I decided that he was right. Kenny was dangerous. I didn't question his command at the end. "Don't die on me" I told Levi before leaving for Orvud. "I'm not that easy to kill" he muttered as I got on my horse and galloped towards Orvud with Moblet.

I reached Orvud at dawn. We went to the military quaters and Moblit managed a room for me. I thanked him and fell asleep instantly. I woke up to find that it was already late afternoon. I went down to the canteen for some food and as I was eating the most disgusting porridge made in existance, I saw Moblet run towards me. As he got infront of me, he said, "The survey corps are here. They are sending a search party to the Reiss chapel to find Levi squad. Commander Erwin is here." he told me. To that, I sprang up from the table and said, "Moblet, do me a favour and tell Commander Erwin that I have to talk to him privately. I'm going to my room. I need to change clothes". " Y-yes ofcourse" he muttered before getting out of the canteen. I went back to my room quickly and wore my Survey corps uniform because I assumed that something went wrong. I had to go with the search party. When I was done, I went for the courtyard of the military HQ. Soldiers were assembling and I found Uncle Erwin talking to Commander Pixis. As I went to him, he excused himself from Commander Pixis and told me, "I thought you were with Levi. Why didn't he take you with him? Won't they fight Kenny there? I heard he is hard to take down..." I interjected him to blandly say, "He didn't take me because I'm pregnant.". Uncle Erwin's eyes widened as he exclaimed with concern, "What? But you two have been together for only about a month! How could you make a mistake like that in times like this? You two aren't even married yet!". "Uncle Erwin, we can't change the fact that it happened. Levi wants the child like myself. We will figure something out about marriage when all these shit are over. I needed to inform you about this. I need to be on the search party. I'm having a feeling that they might be in trouble. You won't arrange a search party for no reason." I assured him. To that, he said, "Tiana, it's already hard for me to process all the information you just gave me. I can't allow you to go given that you're expecting a baby. Levi wouldn't want that too. You need to stay somewhere safe.." "I don't have any intention to be useless. Even in this condition, I'm as good as a hundred soldiers. Taking me will give you tactical advantage. You're the commander of a military faction, Commander Erwin. Don't let personal feelings affect your decisions" I objected glaring at him. "Tiana, you're not going." Uncle Erwin sighed. "I see." I answered bluntly as I went for the stable. Uncle Erwin was wrong because I had no intention to stay behind. I found Moblet on my way to the stable and called him out. "What's wrong? Did Commander Erwin not let you join the search party?" he asked. I didn't mention him that I was gonna try to join the search party but as he was Hanji's second in command, he had to be smart. I wasn't surprised that he figured the issue out. "Yes. He didn't agree. I need you to get me a 3DMG in good condition. I'm going there alone. I'll be in the stable. Please, help me out. If Commander Erwin is arranging a search party, something is seriously wrong." I pleaded him. "I'm only doing this because you're Hanji-san's good friend. Could you, talk to her about me in return? I kinda like her..." Moblet mumbled. "Sure. I'll mention it to her" I reassured him as he ran off to find a 3DMG. I went to the stable to get a horse.

Moblet was back quickly. "I stole it from the supply storage. It's in good condition" he said as he handed me the very new and polished looking gear with new blades. "Thank you Moblet. I'll make sure Hanji goes on a date with you." I smiled at him as he blushed slightly and went off. I was done saddling my horse too. I strapped on to the gear, got on my horse and galloped towards the Reiss Chapel.

Meanwhile,

No one's POV

"Are you all ready to get your hands dirty?" Levi asked everyone. They all gave him a determined look. Levi assumed that they were ready and said, "I guess so" before reviewing the plan again and commanding everyone to go into action.

Sasha and Connie dropped the wheeled buckets full of gunpowder and oil bags attached. Everyone stormed into the basement of the chapel as Sasha threw fire arrows towards the buckets and exploded them. Taking the smoke to his advantage, Levi flew up to count the number of enemies. For more cover, Hanji and Connie were shootings smoke shells. "Fourty Enemies! They are gathered behind the pillars! Continue the plan! We'll take em out right here!" Levi shouted out to his team before disappearing into the shadows. Connie, Jean and Hanji flew towards the enemy at that. Sasha kept shooting fire arrows at the buckets to keep up the smoke.

When Tiana reached the chapel, she heard sounds of explosion. Her horse was as fast as a messenger's so it took her only about an hour to reach the chapel. She got inside the chapel, found the entry to the basement and entered carefully to find Sasha shooting fire arrows at buckets down under the stairs which were exploding with heavy smoke. "Gun powder and oil" Tiana assumed. Just then, I saw a woman, not too far aim for Connie as he killed a man. Tiana didn't waste any time and flew as fast as she can and decapitated her with one slash. "Oi Connie! Get in the smoke now!" Tiana commanded as he looked at her and shouted "Hai!" before disappearing in the smoke.

7-8 anti personale squad members were trying to shoot Mikasa. Her speed saved her but before they realized anything, a blurry figure crossed them and they were dead before they knew it. "Is that Levi?" some anti personale squad members standing at some distance wondered but their mouth gaped open when someone slightly faster than the one attacking the squad members in the middle killed three of the men close to them. They only got a glance of him. If this was Levi, who was that? Before they were killed however, Kenny saved them by attacking Levi. "Thank God Kenny came just in time.." a guy started but couldnt finish because he was already stabbed with a blade thrown at his neck. That's when they saw Tiana swinging around and charging at them with unbelievable speed.

"Yo Levi. Not that I've got time to waste on you, but, if you get past here, it'll be all for nothin'. By the way, how's your little lady doing? I noticed that you taught her my slitting style! You gonna teach those to your runts too now?" Kenny told Levi smugly. He paused for an answer but didn't get any so he casually said, "So be it, guess I'll have to play" as he started flying and shooting at Levi.

Levi already noticed Tiana in the field. He was glad that Kenny didn't. While flying, he found Kenny's second in command flying and tried to get her. He missed but then he saw Tiana fly fast towards that woman. Levi noticed Kenny appear nearby too. "Not sick of playing yet? Good grief! Isn't that Tiana right there? So she's what was cutting my squad up when you were wasting my time here. Why was she so shitty at fighting back the last time?" Kenny sniggered before disappearing and attacking Levi from behind. Levi dodged the attack and the planks falling at him. "You aren't answering any questions brat!" Kenny said smugly as he charged at Levi with a knife, barely missing and cutting Levi's face. "She had morning sickness" Levi muttered as he threw a bag of oil at Kenny as he shot at Levi. Using the fire, Levi made a deep cut in Kenny's stomach.

After killing a few more soldiers on her way, Tiana kept following Kenny's second in command. Suddenly, Hanji appeared out of the shadows, joining the chase. "Tiana! How did you get here?" she asked eccentrically. "I made Moblit steal a 3DMG and stole a horse from the stable. You need to go on a date with him. That's what he asked for return" Tiana said monotonously. "Huh? Moblet likes me? I see..." Hanji muttered with a blush as Kenny's second in command shot at her. Tiana pushed Hanji and herself out of the way and Hanji shouted "You like to play risky too huh? Just like meee!" eccentrically but that didn't last because that woman shot a 3DMG hook at Hanji's arm. Tiana slashed the rope off and had to hide behind a pillar because Kenny came in sight and shot at Levi asking him to stay out of the way. Levi easily dodged this attack too but didn't follow them.

After the remaining anti personale squad left through a passage, Tiana noticed a really angry looking Levi stomping towards her with a menacing voice saying, "What part of 'Kenny is dangerous' and 'the kid can't take so much stress' don't you understand Tiana?". " I don't have morning sickness and they had to run for their lives only because I arrived. You were too busy with Kenny and Mikasa and myself are the only ones who can take down multiple opponents at once. I didn't interfere your fight with Kenny because I know he is dangerous." Tiana stated monotonously. "Heichou, Tiana is right... We would've been perished if she wasn't here." Armin chimed in. Levi sighed and said, "I'm afraid both of you are right.. That doesn't change the fact that a pregnant woman should be fighting. It's risky for the baby and completely unacceptable. I can't believe Erwin allowed this.". "He didn't. I stole a 3DMG and a horse and got here. He has nothing to do with this." Tiana muttered. "Let's discuss this later. We need to find a way out of here and get to Eren first." Levi told everyone as the squad went towards the passage, only to find a huge net trapping them.

[AUTHOR'S NOTE:Let's assume, Tiana is travelling at 80km/h since her horse is a messenger horse and it is possible for survey Corp horses to attain such speed.

Reiss chapel is 80km far from Orvud district.

Tiana took 1 hour to reach the chapel.

Horse wagons usually travel with the speed of 15miles/h. That means its 20km/h approximately.

Erwin and the search party took 4 hours to travel to the Reiss chapel

Assuming that Tiana reached the Reiss chapel at 7:30pm, and that Erwin left for the Reiss chapel at 8:00pm, Erwin will meet Levi squad at approximately 11:00pm given that Levi squad already travelled 20kms after the fight.

Rod Reiss's titan will need to cover a distance of 80 km to reach Orvud district. That means, he travels at a speed of 12km/h approximately because it will take him 6 hours to reach as we know that it reaches Orvud at dawn which can be assumed as 5am. Rod reiss titan is slower than wagons due to his enormous size. It will take 3 hours for the search party and Levi squad to return to the military HQ therefore at 2am.]


	18. Proposal

No one's POV

Levi squad was on the move from the now destroyed Reiss chapel. An injured Hanji, Eren and Historia was on a wagon while Armin was driving it. Levi, Tiana, Mikasa, Jean, Sasha and Connie were on horseback. Far from them, travelled an enormous titan, twice the size of the colossal titan. When Levi squad was stuck in the passage, Armin discovered an opening in the wall of the passage. They heard a huge crash and a blinding yellow light when Armin discovered the opening. Someone transformed into a titan. That opening led Armin and Hanji out of the chapel into the safety due to Hanji's injury while the others went to aid Eren. It turned out that Rod Reiss transformed into an enormous titan, the one which was travelling alongside them. As they were following Rod Reiss, Erwin's search party was spotted in a distance. When Tiana saw Erwin's horse trotting towards them, she felt guilty for ignoring her superior and going behind her Uncle's back. "It had to be done" she reassured herself as Erwin reached them. "I knew it was you who stole the horse. Why didn't you follow the orders? Do you know the consequences of ignoring a direct order from the commander? And, where did you get the 3DMG from?" Erwin asked Tiana firmly. "I know the consequences, but, it had to be done. Without my contribution, the mission would've failed as Levi Heichou was busy with Kenny. According to the survey corps rulebook, section 27, any direct orders from superiors can be ignored without punishment if the decision of the guilty is essential for a mission. I believe my action was necessary for the mission's success. As for the 3DMG, I stole it from the supply storage, Commander." Tiana answered with a calm but determined expression. "Commander, Tiana is right. Mikasa couldn't handle all of the anti personale squad alone. There were about 40 people. We needed Tiana's strength." Armin chimed in. To that, Erwin sighed and said, "You're right. Tiana, you do know that because of your foolishness, I still have to deal with the law of section 42, that pregnant women aren't allowed to fight...". Before Erwin could finish, Tiana interjected and said, " Commander, you already denied my permission to join the search party. I acted on my own. I am supposed to get the punishment for that but section 27 already vouches for it. There will be some paperwork involved but no other long term problem.". Erwin looked at Tiana for a while. He was proud of the woman she became. "How did you steal the 3DMG? I sent a cadet to mention the guards of the supply storage to specifically see that you're not let in." Erwin inquired. "I knew you would do that. I sent someone else to get it for me." Tiana answered casually. "I see. Tiana, did you really think everything through before making this decision?" Erwin asked, clearly impressed by how far Tiana thought everything through. To that question, Tiana looked at Erwin with a slightly amused expression and answered, "Ofcourse I thought it through. Unlike you, I don't gamble". The last sentence gave Erwin a flash of memory

_9 years ago:_

_" Tiana, you really should go home now. It's just a game. We already played five times.." Erwin sighed as the 10 year old girl insisted on playing another game of chess. It was one of her off days from training with him and she discovered a chess board in his office while searching for books. Thus, he ended up in this position, playing five games of chess with her. Tiana was a quick learner. She was way past the basics in the first game alone. Erwin didn't expect her to win against him as he was known to be one of the greatest tacticians of all time. He knew that the girl won't give up on trying till she won atleast one game, so, he went easy on her this time. "Checkmate" Erwin sighed at the end of their 6th game. He noticed Tiana smile and suddenly, he noticed that Tiana had her knight just in position to get rid of his queen. She took the queen down and told, "checkmate" to Erwin with a sly smile. The knight was now in position to get the king and Erwin had no chess piece to get rid of it. "Good one, Tiana. Go home now. Your parents will be worried." Erwin sighed. "Uncle Erwin, you went easy on me. I want a fair game before going home." Tiana demanded. By now, Erwin knew that when Tiana got her head into something, she never gave up. "Fine. One last game. Promise?" Erwin told Tiana. "Promise!" Tiana answered in an excited voice. Surprisingly, Erwin lost that game. This time, Erwin wasn't easy on her. The one last game went on five more times, only now, it was Erwin who insisted to have one more game. At the end, he gave all his tactician abilities but failed to win against Tiana. "Okay. How are you winning against me?" Erwin asked in the end after loosing the sixth game. "You see Uncle Erwin, you have a pattern in playing. It was hard to figure out but you tend to loose your pawns very easily. You keep the elite pieces for the end and use them to take the enemy down. However, when you don't have the pawns to cover for the elites, you start loosing the elites to my pawns. That's how I won. Unlike you, I don't gamble. I should go home now. Dad will be mad if I'm late." Tiana explained with a proud face as she went for the door, leaving a dumbfounded Erwin sitting infront of the chessboard. She just predicted his moves in actual combat scenerio too._

"I won't say what you did wasn't reckless but I'm proud of you." Erwin sighed. "Thanks" Tiana muttered with a smile. Erwin asked Levi if everyone was okay and Levi told him about Hanji. Erwin decided that the injury wasn't too serious and can be fixed easily. Levi then mentioned to Erwin that the titan is Rod Reiss and Erwin said that they didn't have any time to waste as Rod Reiss will be heading for Orvud district. After Erwin left, Levi looked at Tiana and asked, "I forgot to ask you about this but, why did you memorise the Survey Corps rulebook? Cadets or second in commands aren't required to know these.". "Well, I read those before joining the trainee corps. I found a book with the Survey Corps rules in Uncle Erwin's office and I decided to read it." Tiana replied. "Why would anyone want to read a rulebook?" Levi asked, completely confused. Tiana looked back at him with a confused face and answered, "I read it because I like reading?". Levi scoffed at this and said, "And yet, you never read a biology book.". To that, Tiana made a protesting face along with a slight blush creeping up her cheek as she said, "I did read biology books! It's not my fault that you're so goddamned overprotective!" "Woah... They are acting like an old married couple..." Connie whispered to Jean as Levi 'tch'd to Tiana's accusation. "Connie, no one cares" Jean grumbled, clearly being jealous. There was an awkward silence between the squad before Hanji broke it by starting to talk about the founding titan.

On the way to the wall, the possibilities of getting rid of Rod Reiss was discussed, Eren tried to stop Rod Reiss with his titan powers, calling him a little old man thus earning a glare from Levi and Historia came to terms with the fact that her father will be killed. After reaching the wall, the squad went to the regiment branch in Orvud district and a cadet notified the squad about the meeting that's about to take place in the hall. "Historia, forgot to tell you, we need you to do something" Levi said approaching Historia. "Yes?" Historia asked. "Erwin's orders. When this battle is over, since you're the true successor to the throne, become the queen." he finished. Connie and Jean tried to say that it was unfair to put Historia in such a position out of nowhere but Historia agreed to be the queen. However, she said, "But heichou, I have one condition." "Huh?" Levi questioned her as she replied, "Since my fate is my own, I want to lay it on the line." Historia was allowed her wish. As everyone went to the meeting, Tiana said to her, "When you're queen, make sure to give Sasha a buffet meal at your castle. I owe her one." "When you're queen, you can punch that runt in the face." Mikasa said to Historia. Historia's body tensed at that.

Tiana POV

Uncle Erwin revealed the plan to us. Orvud district won't be evacuated because the damage would be far greater if Rod Reiss gets to the main wall. The plan was to blow up Rod Reiss's hands as he reached the wall and then Eren was supposed to throw explosives into his mouth. That is if the cannons don't work. As everything was being assembled, Levi came towards me and said with a monotone voice, "Tiana, I need to talk to you in private. Come with me." I followed him to an empty hallway in the regiment branch. When we reached, he said keeping his bored face, "Tiana, I don't want you on front lines. I've told this to you before and you didn't listen but..." but I stopped him and said with a similar bored but determined expression, "Levi, for plan B, you need the best soldiers you've got. We both know that the nape and all the other pieces needs to be cut properly to finish Rod Reiss off for good. Our aim has to be perfect...". Levi stopped me this time. With an expression that clearly showed his annoyance because of my interjection, he said, "I know that Tiana but this is too dangerous. I need you and the baby to be safe..." I stopped him again and said looking down on the floor, "So you want me to act like an useless housewife? That's right, you said you hate that kind of women. Is this your way of preparing to leave me? ". I hated it when he acted like I couldn't protect myself. "Tiana, if I were to leave you, I wouldn't devise any bullshit plot like that. And, you're nothing near the useless housewife type. If you were anything like that, I'd not be wasting my time here. You are strong but... Well, I'll be honest with you, I could've never been ready for a family if I wasn't forced into it by circumstances. Now that I am facing circumstances like that, I don't want to loose the possibility of finding some peace. Every single person I ever cared about ended up being dead and I don't want to deal with that again.." Levi tried to explain clearly getting more frustated before I stopped him. I understood his fears but I needed to do this. "Levi, didn't you tell me that you're with me because I have a higher chance of survival? You have to trust me on this, Levi. I promise to stay away from the explosion but I need to be there to cut off the pieces of Rod Reiss. Just, have some faith in me. I won't die on you. Our kid won't die on you too. I'll make sure of that. I promise." I told him in a soothing voice. Levi stared at me for a moment and said, "Okay. In that case, don't die..both of you. The others will be looking for us. Let's go." before starting to leave. I followed him.

"Levi, Jean, Sasha, Connie, see that side. Tiana, you're helping Hanji with tying the explosives up." Uncle Erwin commanded as he was talking to Historia. We were watching how the cannons were working a while back. According to Levi, it was like insects pissing on the titan and I couldn't agree more. Eren and Armin were helping me weave the net while Mikasa was stacking up the gun powder. Eren got up suddenly and looked down from the wall. Apparantly some kids down there reminded him of himself. Armin agreed to it but said that circumstances were different now. Suddenly, Eren started punching himself and Mikasa had to stop him. "Eren! It's not time yet!" Armin shouted at him. As Eren started rambling about him beating up an useless runt, I interjected and said, "Eren, stop your bullshit. No one cares about how you feel about yourself. We don't have much time before Rod Reiss is upon us. Get your job done first." "Sorry Tiana.." Eren muttered as like everyone, he still was scared of me to some point even if I was friendly to them.

The cannons failed at the end. Plan B was put into action. We drenched ourselves in water to minimize the heat emmited from Rod Reiss. Levi asked the garrison captain to retreat as it was time for the survey corps to take action. Eren had transformed into a titan and was already in his position as well as Armin and Sasha. Uncle Erwin held his hand up with a flare gun. He commanded to commence the mission by shooting the red smoke flare. Armin and Sasha used the maneuver gear attached explosives to aim at Rod Reiss's hands. The explosions made him loose balance as planned. Uncle Erwin commanded Eren to go get the explosives in Rod Reiss's mouth. He did exactly as planned and Rod Reiss blew up. "All troops! Finish it off with your ODM gear!" He commanded as we all flew from the wall and started cutting the huge chunks of flesh out. It was planned that Historia would cut the nape. Levi and I dealt with most of the chunks before landing safely on the ground. Historia did her part as well. It was over.

Levi POV

Just as I landed, I went to check on Tiana. I felt relieved to see that she landed safe too. "Oi Tiana, we need to report to Erwin. Come on." I told her as I walked towards her. "Yeah.. Well, can you wait for a while? I feel like I'll puke.." Tiana muttered, clearly looking sick. "Okay, I'll tell Erwin that you're feeling sick. You don't have to report." I told her as she muttered a "thanks" before looking at Sasha, who was nearby and ordering her to take Tiana to the military quarters. I went to the scout regiment branch to Erwin's office there. He already was there when I arrived. "Where's Tiana? Is she okay?" Erwin asked me with a concerned expression. "She's fine. She's getting morning sickness again. I sent her back to the quarters with Sasha." I notified him in my usual monotone voice. "Ah. I see. Before you report everything, I need you to go back to the Reiss Chapel. Take some men with you. We need to find out if anyone from the anti personale squad are alive. If they are, they could be a threat. Our job now is to officially announce Historia as the queen and eliminate all threats. The military police aren't much effective as they are all corrupted, so, we will have to take matters in our hand." Erwin explained. "Okay. I'll arrange a search party" I answered before leaving the room. I needed some tea before this new bullshit.

When I was done with my tea, I went to the canteen and chose some random survey Corp soldiers because I wasn't feeling like picking specific people and went towards the Reiss Chapel. I didn't take my own squad because they already had been through enough for the past few days and they deserved a break. We dug out all the remaining members of the anti personale squad from the ruins except Kenny. All were dead. "Oi, search the perimeter. With those injuries, he can't go far" I commanded everyone as they went to look for him. A while later, one of them came back and informed me that he found Kenny. I followed him to the place. "Kenny" I called him out in a bored voice as I stood infront of him. "Oh gee. It's you?" he answered in an equally bored voice before coughing up some blood. "Your comrades we fought, they all ended up getting crushed. Are you the only survivor?" I asked, my voice void of any emotion. I personally was void of any emotion towards that man. "Seems that way" he answered with a hint of remorse in his voice. I was taken slightly off guard by that. When did he start feeling remorse? "Report back. I'm fine here alone." I commanded the soldier with me. "Understood" he replied before leaving. "With those burns and that blood loss, there's no helping you now." I stated monotonously. "Yeah? I wonder.." he said with sarcasm dripping in his voice when I finally noticed the syringe beside him. The same type used to turn people into titans. "I swiped this one right out of Rod's bag. I'm guessing, using one of these'll make me a titan. I'll be a stupid titan but it should keep me alive for a little longer... If I don't do it right, I'll probably turn out all messed up like him." he sighed weakly. "There's no way you'd sit around and wait to die. Don't you have a better excuse?" I asked. "Sure, I don't want to die and I want power. But... Oh, I think I just got it. Why he did that." he mumbled. "Huh?" I replied, completely confused. Was he just rambling because he was dying or was it something relevant? "Every last person I've seen was the same way. Whether it was booze, women, or even God. Family, the king, dreams, children, power... They couldn't keep going unless they were drunk on something. They were all slaves to something, even him." he said before coughing up some more blood. "What are you? A hero? Stop shitting me.. Even you're drunk on something. It's that girl, Tiana right? She's a good one, I'll give you that. I expected better than 'she had morning sickness' though. Seems like you've grown up. Just like Kuchel.." he said with a tone of sarcasm in his voice as chuckled weakly. "How did you know about her in the first place?" I asked him. I was curious about it for a long time. "It's not very hard to get information about you. That girl, Emilia or something, she talked. Seemed like she was ready to open her legs for any Ackerman" he chuckled. I saw the light slowly leaving his eyes. "Kenny! Tell me everything you know. Why doesn't the first king want humanity to survive?" I asked him with haste. I had to get all the information I can from him before he dies. "Like I'd know. But it's the reason we Ackermans opposed him." he replied weakly. "My last name seems to be Ackerman too. You.. What were you to my mother really?" I asked him finally. I didn't know if I wanted to know the answer. He chuckled weakly at that before saying, "You idiot, I was just her brother."

That night, when I was fucking Tiana, my mind wasn't on her. Kenny's words were clouded in my mind. He was right, she was a huge driving factor for me. Now that she's pregnant, I had to make things official at some point. The retake of wall Maria will be planned after Historia's coronation. That means, this peace won't last for long. I also knew that Tiana and I couldn't possibly raise a kid in the scout regiment headquarters. I didn't bother to pull out while cumming. I lay down beside her as she snuggled next to me. We were staying at the military quarters in Orvud district. "You were distracted the whole time." she stated. "Huh?" I asked taken slightly by surprise that she noticed. "What's wrong?" she asked as she looked up at me. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it." I answered calmly. She didn't drag the matter further. Instead, she asked, "How did searching the Reiss Chapel go?". "It was alright. Kenny was still alive when we found him. Apparantly he was my uncle." I answered with a monotone voice. She didn't give me any reply for that. I liked how she never dragged any matter that I didn't want to talk about or showed any pity towards me. I heard a soft snoring a while later. She was already asleep. She did help me with my paperworks though, so, I understood why she was tired. I looked at her calm and peaceful face and made a huge decision. I had to buy an engagement ring the next day. Even if it meant that I had to give up my guarding duties during Historia's coronation.

I woke up at dawn to find a drooling Tiana beside me. Tch... She drooled all over me... I got up, used a handkerchief to wipe the drool off her face, closed her mouth and went to take a shower. When I was back, I found her sitting up on the bed, yawning. "How late am I?" she grunted as she rubbed her eyes. "Not too much. If you go take a shower right now, you'll be 10 minutes late" I answered as I wore the survey corps coat. "I guess I'll skip shower then..." she started but I interjected her to say, "You're not sleeping on my bed then.". She threw a glare at me before walking into the bathroom. I went to the canteen and found my squad there. I walked up to Mikasa and said, "Oi, you're Historia's body guard today. If Erwin asks where I went to, say him that I've got some work to do and I'll join the ceremony a bit late." " Yes heichou." she answered, clearly annoyed.

I drank my tea at a seperate table before it was time to go to the capital Mitras. Tiana just arrived in the breakfast hall as we were leaving so she just got to take a steamed potato wrapped in a paper packet before leaving with us. Mikasa and I were in Historia's carriage. Tiana was with the other squad members. When we reached the capital, as we were going through the market, I told Mikasa, "I'll leave now. Don't mess this up." and got off the carriage as she was saying "Yes heichou.". I've been to this market before to get suits for myself. I walked around the place before finding the jewellery store I was looking for. I came here with Hanji before as I usually attended military charity events with her. Hanji apparantly got a great deal with some earrings or whatever and grabbed me with her to pick those up just before going to the event. I entered the store and this red headed woman sat inside. She welcomed me in a bored voice, atleast until she noticed who I am. "A-are you Levi Ackerman? From the scouts?" she stammered as I walked towards her. "Yes. That's me. Anyway, do you sell rings?" I answered in a monotoned voice. Tch.. Another fangirl.. "Y-yes! Ofcourse!" she stammered again before pulling up a box of men's rings. "The one with the grey stone will match your eye..." she said dreamily but I casually told her, "I'm sorry, I was looking for engagement rings. For women.". She looked like someone punctured her balloon full of fantasies. "Who's the lucky woman?" she asked trying to sound interested even if her voice clearly showed disapproval. "Well, it's gonna be on newspapers soon anyway." I answered calmly. I didn't want to discuss my relationship with a random woman. She pulled out a different box, filled with women's rings. I chose a simple platinum ring with a single small diamond embedded into it. I knew it would be expensive but I wanted to do something nice for Tiana. "That would be 500 gold coins." the woman answered. I took out my purse, and gave all the coins in it to her, she used a counting machine to count the amount of gold coins there and returned the rest of the coins. She packed the ring up into a ring box and I took it and left the shop in a hurry.

Tiana POV

I got down from the carriage and walked towards Historia's carriage. We were inside the military police headquarters in Capital Mitras. I knew that Levi would be with Historia there however, I didn't expect him to take Mikasa with him. I saw Mikasa and Historia get down from the carriage. There was no sign of Levi. Uncle Erwin was also there, talking to Mikasa. "That's quiet irresponsible of him.. He never did anything like that before.." I overheard uncle Erwin as I approached them. "Good that you're here Tiana. Did Levi mention to you about any personal work that he had to go to?" Uncle Erwin asked me as I stood infront of them. "Uh, no he didn't mention anything." I answered. That must be the reason for his disappearance. What could this personal work be? "I see.. Well, I'm sure he'll be back soon." Uncle Erwin said confidently before taking Historia to meet the other commanders and the Supreme commander. Mikasa followed them as I went back to the rest of the squad. "Where's heichou?" Sasha asked me. She mostly liked me because I always gave her some of my food. She even ate half of my steamed potato this morning. "I don't know. Apparantly he had some work." I muttered.

We gathered infront of the stage before the coronation started. Mikasa near the stage. Suddenly, I saw Levi walk towards her and say something to her before she walked back towards us. While Mikasa was cussing him for being late and making her do his job, I was wondering what work he went to get done. The coronation didn't take long. Erwin called Levi to talk to him about his indiscipline and the squad was in charge of being with Historia. After Historia talked to the press, we were on our way to the scout regiment branch in the capital Mitras. "Everything happened so fast... I'll miss you guys all a lot.." Historia sighed in the carriage. Sasha started crying and talking about how Historia gave her a bread the first time they met and how she thinks Historia is a God, Connie and Jean made some awkward attempts to say that they will miss her too. Eren said that he's happy for her. Mikasa said nothing. "Oi, Historia, I have a far important duty for you than being queen." I told her amongst all the commotion. Everyone had shut their mouths after hearing the statement for obvious reasons. They probably thought I'll say something important. "Huh?" she asked, clearly confused. "Take care of my kid when I'm out in expeditions. You could do that right?" I asked her with a straight face. "I... Ofcourse!" she said with a surprised expression. She didn't expect me to trust her with my kid. However, knowing the type of childhood she had, I knew she would be perfect. "Oh, and don't forget about getting Sasha that buffet meal." I added. "Huhhhh?" Sasha exclaimed. "Well, you gave me that bread remember? That day when Kenny attacked us? It's just payback." I answered breaking her confusion. Yet again, Sasha started crying, and, calling me God this time while Connie muttered an "I told you that you won't regret it" to Sasha with a grin.

It took a while for Sasha to calm down. The rest of the trip was quiet. We started talking once again when we were walking in the corridor of the scout regiment branch. We could see Levi standing far from us in the same corridor. "I'll hit him today" Historia told us seriously. "Hold on, you're seriously doing it Historia?" Eren exclaimed. "Yeah I am." Historia answered trying to hide the fear in her voice. "Mikasa was just joking about it! Right, Mikasa?" Eren said with a concerned voice, clearly trying to save Historia from the possibility of getting herself killed. I was just enjoying the show just like Mikasa, who replied, "After you smack him, tell him this.. 'I dare you to hit me back'" with a serious tone. "Try inserting some insults there too." I added to that with an equally serious tone. I really was enjoying this. "Damn you two..." Eren told us with a disapproving look before turning back to Historia and saying, "If it's not a real grudge, just forget it.". To that, Historia replied, "If I can't do this, how can I call myself queen?". Jean caught on with the amusing side of it pretty quickly and said, "Hell yeah, Historia. That's the spirit!" with an evil smile. Before we noticed it, we were already near Levi. Levi noticed us too and moved towards us. There was a look of pure fear on Historia's face before she gave a battle cry and charged at Levi, giving him a weak punch on his biceps. Everyone except myself and Mikasa shouted out at surprise at this. Both Mikasa and I had a grin on our faces."How'd you like that? I'm the queen! If you got a problem..." Historia's failing attempt at sounding brave was interrupted by Levi's sudden chuckle. Everyone including myself was surprised at that. Levi never smiled infront of anyone except myself. What's gotten into him? He looked at everyone and said, "Thank you... All of you." before looking at me and saying with a grin, "Tiana, do me a favour and go to my office. There's a box with a ring on the table. Wear that and come find me at Erwin's office. We need to tell him that we are engaged.". With that, he walked away leaving me dumbfounded. This time, everyone looked at me with surprised expressions. "Did he just propose you?" Historia asked me, clearly confused and surprised. An uncharacteristically huge smile formed on my face. "Yeah... I suppose he did..." I muttered before running off to Levi's office. "This must be the weirdest day in human history. Historia is queen, Levi heichou smiled infront of us, Tiana is looking like a love sick puppy..." I could hear Connie ramble in the distance.

[AUTHOR'S NOTE: Guys, thank you soooooo much for the reviews and for following this story. I honestly wasn't very serious about it when I started writing but all the motivation you guys gave me encouraged me to plan the plot ahead and write longer chapters. I made some mistakes in chapter 1 and 2 when I first wrote it and I've edited them recently. Those weren't very serious mistakes that might change the story in any way. I was confused about Tiana's age until recently when I planned to get her pregnant. The age was the only mistake I made. To be clear, Tiana is 19 years old, she will turn 20 soon and I'll write a chapter about her birthday. Levi is 30 years old, thus making an age gap of about 11 years, which is supposed to be quiet normal inside the walls because almost everything there is like medieval ages. Tiana joined the trainee corps at the age of 14, while wall Maria was infiltrated when she was 12. I'll write a spinoff chapter on how she spent the two years in-between. By the way, after about 6-7 chapters, Tiana will have her kid. Please let me know in the reviews if Tiana should have a son or a daughter. Again, thanks for your support!]


	19. Promotion and backlash

No one's POV

Tiana knocked on Erwin's door. The ring was already on her finger. Levi opened the door with an annoyed face. His expression brightened slightly after seeing it's Tiana as he held the door for her. "Tiana, please sit" Erwin told Tiana pointing at the chair infront of his table. "Now that both of you are here, what's the news that you wanted to give me, Levi?" Erwin asked Levi as Tiana sat down. "Tiana and I are engaged now. I thought you'd want to know." Levi told Erwin in a bland tone. "I wonder why I'm not surprised." Erwin sighed as he replied to Levi's statement with sarcasm."Levi, as her only guardian, I can't allow you to marry Tiana unless you get a stable home. We all know that raising a child in the regiment headquarters isn't possible." Erwin added. "Yes, I thought about it too. I'll make arrangements for a house and try to get on with this shit as quickly as possible. After all, this peace won't last forever." Levi answered to Erwin. "Anyway, I called both of you here for a different reason..." Erwin started but was interrupted by Tiana. "You called me for something?" she asked with a confused tone. Levi only told her to go to Erwin's office to break the news about their extremely bland engagement. Tiana wasn't concerned about the fact that Levi's proposal wasn't very glamorous because she never cared about grand romantic gestures and all that. She was just immensely happy because Levi took the effort to buy such a nice ring for her, that after abandoning his duties. Levi wouldn't do all that if he didn't love her. Erwin looked at Levi and raised his one of his massive eyebrows. "I forgot to mention that to her" Levi said casually. He definitely wasn't gonna let them know that he was so nervous while telling her to get the ring that he forgot to mention Tiana that Erwin called her. "I see. Well, now that you're here, there's a mission I'd like to discuss with you. If you're uncomfortable with it, you can always refuse." Erwin told Tiana with a slightly concerned voice. "What's the mission?" Tiana asked monotonously. "Well, you see, we weren't able to capture all the lords who worked for the Reiss family and enthroned the fake king. There are exactly three lords who are not captured yet and we got a lead that they have properties in the underground city. Almost all rich lords have properties there in case the wall breaks or for any emergency situation. The documents on those properties are as shady as it can be and can't give us any right information. I was planning to send Levi and Hanji to pinpoint their location by an undercover mission but Hanji, having a curious mind like herself, can attract attention. Levi alone can't do it because in his time, he was quiet popular in the underground. They will recognise him if he tries to spy on people. You, Tiana, are the most capable person after him but given that you're expecting and your past, I didn't want to involve you into this. But, right now, we don't have much of a choice. If you're uncomfortable with it, we will have to send Mikasa with Levi but she's not as matured as you are and may make bad decisions which could turn out to be risky for us." Erwin explained. A rush of bad memories went through her mind but at the end, Tiana decided that she had to face her past. "I'll go." she answered calmly. Erwin scanned her face before saying, "I see, well, the mission is simple. You two won't engage in fights with anyone. You will only pinpoint their locations and report back. The rest will be taken care of by Levi squad and Hanji squad. You will have to go to the upper class whore houses because knowing how Lords usually are, you probably will find them there. There's this tavern out there where all the upper class people goes to drink. It's called the Devil's Punchbowl.." Erwin was interrupted as Levi snorted. "I know that place. The owner had a shit load of ego" he muttered. Tiana decided that she wanted to hear the story behind that. "As I was saying, Tiana, you will get inside and get information. You're not too popular yet, atleast not in the underground. That's more or less the plan now." Erwin explained. "I see. Understood." Tiana replied. Just then, Hanji entered the room with 39 other squad leaders of the survey corps. Tiana and Levi looked at Erwin with a confused expression. "Commander, I fetched everyone here." Hanji said before saluting. Erwin stood up and came infront of them. Tiana did the same and stood beside Levi. Erwin then, explained the whole situation, "I was planning to choose the next commander before our next expedition to reseal wall Maria. I am confused about who to choose because I have two candidates on my list. It's either Hanji because of her quick thinking and innovative ideas or Tiana because of her quick thinking and ability to see patterns in the enemy and counterattack perfectly. I thought if all the squad leaders here except Hanji help me out with a voting. It's pretty simple, when I call out one of their names, you will raise your hand to vote for her." Erwin explained. Tiana was shocked at the whole thing but Hanji, however was not because Erwin mentioned that she was a candidate for the next commander long ago. "Anyone voting for Hanji, raise your hand." Erwin commanded and 20 people raised their hands. "I see.. I guess it's a tie. This makes things rather difficult." Erwin sighed. "Commander? May I have a word?" Tiana told Erwin with a confident voice. "Yes?" Erwin asked. "I don't think I'm fit for this role." she stated. "Why is that, Tiana?" Erwin asked, curious about why she was throwing out the huge career opportunity. "Commander, I am not suitable for this role because, firstly, I'm not the type of person with good leadership skills. My trainee corps records clearly states that I'm not good at teamwork. I will never be able to achieve the trust of a whole military division just by my strength. Yes, I might be able to make quick decisions but I can't ever make actual battle plans. Commander, you yourself invented a whole battle formation. I could never do something like that. Hanji however, made that explosive added with 3DMG within a few hours. I believe that Hanji would be a better choice." Tiana explained. "But... But you outsmarted Commander Erwin that time... No one has ever been able to do that..." Hanji tried to interject but Levi stopped her. "Hanji, that's because you never tried to outsmart the commander." he said to her. Then he turned at Erwin and said, "Commander, I'd like to change my vote to Hanji. I just realized that Hanji will do a better job than Tiana." "Well, it's decided then. Hanji will be next in the chain of command." Erwin declared. Then he turned to Tiana and said, "As for Tiana, you still deserve a promotion. I think, as you're almost as strong as Levi, a second special operations squad could be formed with you as a squad leader. I will complete the paperworks for that.". " Thank you, Commander." Tiana replied professionally but a smile crept on her face. This really was an amazing day for her. Erwin then turned at everyone else and said that they were dismissed and everyone walked out of Erwin's office. While going out, Levi told Tiana, "Congratulations on your promotion." with a smug look. "Thank you. How do you think we should celebrate it?" Tiana answered with an equally smug expression. "Well, I have some things in mind. We need to go to our room though. Shall we?" Levi mumbled near her ear, making her the skin tingle due to his warm breath on her neck. "After you" Tiana answered with a smirk.

When they reached Levi's room, Levi pinned Tiana to a wall and kissed her passionately. He helped her get rid of the survey corps coat that she had on and also the uniform underneath. "Go to bed, Tiana. I'll be back shortly" He commanded her before picking up the clothes and retiring to the closet. Tiana knew that he will fold those up now. After all, he was the neatest person she met. She remembered a day from back when she just joined the special operations squad. She had been given stable duty that day.

_"How do you never complain when heichou gives you stable duties? Everyone hates mucking the stables and he is downright unfair to you because you win sparring challenges with him sometimes." Eren ranted. He was walking with Tiana to the stable. "Well, he wasn't wrong. I did dirty his uniform this time. I could've been more careful with the tea if I wasn't reading a book while working. I don't think anyone would tolerate their subordinate throwing tea at them." Tiana muttered as a reply. "Well, you're not wrong... But you did apologise. If he made you clean his uniform, that would be more fair. Mucking the stable seems like a bit too much." Eren told Tiana with a sympathetic look. Tiana shrugged it off and said, "Well, he's the captain. He's the one who makes the decision of what punishment we should get. I'd rather trust his judgement instead of calling it unfair.". "No wonder he doesn't hate you as much as he hates us..." Eren muttered before leaving Tiana alone._

_Levi came to check how well the mucking was going to find Tiana scrubbing the last stall. It had only been three hours and Levi didn't expect Tiana to be done with the third stall. He checked the other stalls and found them practically spotless. The horses were tied on a tree nearby. "I didn't expect her to figure that out so soon... Eren took 3 times of re cleaning to figure that out..." Levi thought. The cleaning was above average. Almost as good as him. "You're pretty good at this. You'll be cleaning my room from now on." he commanded. Since then, Tiana's cleaning duties were to clean Levi's room. They would chat while she was cleaning about books they both read. They had many friendly conversations, ones that lead to them having feelings for eachother. Ones that lead to Tiana trusting Levi with her past._

It seemed stupid to Tiana, how they denied their feelings for so long when they were there all that time. Levi came back, naked, while Tiana was lost in thoughts. "What are you thinking?" Levi asked her before pinning her down on the bed and kissing her neck. "I was thinking about that day. The day when you asked me to start cleaning your room?" Tiana sighed. "Mhhm? That was a good decision. Those brats can't clean as good as you." Levi mumbled before going back to kissing her neck. His hands moved towards her vagina as his kisses got rougher, leaving marks on her neck. She was panting slightly as his fingers made his way into her vagina, stretching it, filling it. When he felt like she was wet enough, without any warning, he positioned himself and plunged into her making her yelp in pleasure. He moved in a rough pace, making her come closer to euphoria.

Meanwhile, Erwin sent Hanji to collect Tiana's trainee corps report card and her so called birth certificate. Hanji, as she had nothing to do due to the lack of a lab in this survey corps branch, decided to get done with her work as fast as possible. She knew that Tiana was staying with Levi and decided to go to Levi's office, which was attached to Levi's room. To Levi's distaste, she never knocked before entering Levi's office and this time was no exception. Only, this time, she actually regretted doing it. After entering Levi's office, she clearly heard the sound of sex and Tiana's moaning from the other side of the door to Levi's room. She thought it would be funny to interrupt them and thus she called out, "Oi Levi! I need Tiana here for a second. Erwin sent me to get some documents from her." The noise stopped and after a minute or so, a fully dressed Levi came out of the room with an annoyed expression. "Don't you understand the concept of knocking, Hanji?" he told Hanji with his voice filled with contempt. "Hey, not in mood for one of your boring lectures. I asked for Tiana anyway. Not you." Hanji said casually with a smile. "She probably will kill you when she's here." Levi replied in a deadpan voice. Just after Levi finished his sentence, Tiana came out of the room with a murderous glint in her eyes. "You have amazing timing, Hanji." she sneered at Hanji. Hanji deserved it though because she arrived just moments before Tiana reached an orgasm. "Come on Tiana! I'd not..ahem..interrupt if I didn't have a good reason!" Hanji tried to reason with her. Hanji understood the fact that Tiana did not approve of her little joke at all and she didn't want to make Tiana hate her. After all, she considered Tiana as a good friend and the fact that Tiana set up her and Moblit together proved it. "I'm not carrying shopping bags for you again if you don't have a good enough excuse. What documents do you want?" Tiana asked in an annoyed voice. She wasn't as angry as before. "Erwin asked for your trainee corps report card and your birth certificate. They are required for the paperworks for your promotion." Hanji explained herself. Tiana didn't reply to that and retired to Levi's room to dig those documents out from her bag. She didn't get a chance to unpack yet. When she found those, she handed them to Hanji and asked, "Well, is that all?" in a tone that clearly made Hanji realise that she wasn't wanted in the room anymore. Hanji understood why and decided to give them the privacy. "Yep. That's all" she answered cheerfully before leaving the office.

Tiana POV

Levi was pounding into me and just as I started loosing all sense of my surroundings and reach orgasm, Levi stopped. "Don't stop! please!" I gasped but he pulled out and grunted with a sarcastic tone, "Shitty glasses is here. That woman didn't knock again and that must be the most amazing timing I can think of". " I'll kill her" I muttered before getting up on the bed. After Hanji was gone, I looked back at Levi and said, "Well? Let's continue where we left off?". Levi looked at me and said, " You know what Tiana, I'll give you two options. We can either continue where we left off or try something new. You choose." with a smirk. I decided that something new would be better since I was far from an orgasm right now. "Let's try something new." I answered. "Good choice. Now, go wash your asshole." he commanded. I was confused by his command but I stripped and went to the bathroom and did what he said anyway. When I was back, our clothes were already folded and Levi was putting them back in the closet. He made me suck his dick to get it hard again and then he made me turn around and bend. After that, he fucked me and made me cum. Did he forget about trying something new? Just when that thought crossed my mind, I found him using his fingers to scoop up my cum from outside my vagina and smothering them on my asshole. Then I felt his finger poke at it. Suddenly, I understood what this was about. I read about it in books. He was going to try anal. I blushed furiously at the thought. I felt one of his fingers getting inserted in me slowly and a satisfied sigh escaped my mouth. He moved the finger to and fro slowly making me feel the weirdest sensations ever. More fingers were inserted, the sensation increased gradually by time until I felt his dick poking on that hole. "Levi, it wont fit..." I tried to tell him but he suddenly plunged it all in, making me yelp in pain and pleasure. He didn't move for a while giving me some time to adjust to his size. "Tell me when you're ready" he muttered as he pulled my hair to get my face close to his. After a while, when the pain subsided, I told him, "You can move now..". He didnt waste a second and started out moving slowly, increasing his speed rapidly. The amazing sensation was numbing my legs and blurring my mind. Suddenly, I felt something warm flowing inside me. " Do me a favor and clench your ass." Levi muttered to me before pulling out. I did what he said and after pulling out, he picked me up and went to the bathroom because he figured out that my legs were jelly at this point. After getting me to the toilet seat, he commanded me to wash myself before leaving the bathroom.

No one's POV

It was time for lunch and Tiana was already dressed. Levi, however took time because the smallest crinkle on his clothes were unacceptable to him. Tiana often wondered how he managed to notice such small details on his clothes. Even during combat, he always tried to stay as clean and tidy as possible. "Levi, when are you buying that house that you talked about to Uncle Erwin?" Tiana asked as Levi was ironing his shirt with a metal pot filled with warm water. "I'm planning to buy it before going to the next expedition. We will have to order the furniture too. Those will take a few months to be ready..." Levi muttered as he tried to get rid of that one crease which didn't seem to be going no matter how hard he tried. "Well, do you have any plans about where we should get the house?" Tiana asked. Levi paused at that. He didn't make any plans as he never thought he'd be in a situation like this. "Well, we could think about it later" he replied before wearing his shirt. As they were walking towards the canteen, he told Tiana, "You're not seating with my squad today. You're a squad leader now so sit at the squad leader's table." Tiana nodded at him as they went together towards the squad leader table. "Hey, maybe I should let the squad know about my promotion. After all, we will still be working together and they deserve to know why I'm not sitting with them.." Tiana started to say before getting interrupted by Levi who simply said, "Go ahead" before walking towards the leader's table. Tiana went to Levi squad's table and before she was able to say anything, the team started congratulating her on her promotion. "News does travel fast" Tiana thought. "I'll be sitting at the leader's table from now on but I'll see you guys during training. Our squads will be working together you see" Tiana started but was interrupted by Sasha. "Tiana, don't worry about us. We are your friends. We will find a way to spend time with you. You better become a better squad leader than Levi Heichou" she said but before Tiana could reply, Connie said, "Pretty sure that squad leader Tiana is scarier than Levi heichou sometimes." "Oi, call me Tiana. You're not in my squad and we graduated together. By the way, how am I scarier than Levi?" Tiana asked, completely confused. "Well, you see, you're scary enough yourself but if anyone tries to hit on you or mess with you, that's basically picking on a personal fight with Levi Heichou. I'm surprised that horse face is still alive" Eren elaborated with a protesting Jean muttering "Shut up you suicidal bastard!". After having a small talk with Levi squad, Tiana went to the Leader's table with her lunch. Hanji was already there and Levi was absent. "Where's Levi?" Tiana asked Hanji as she sat down beside her. "Oh, well, Queen Historia came to visit Erwin on some business. She called for Levi. He will be here soon." Hanji explained. The squad leader's table in this scout regiment branch was a long table that went horizontally to both ends of the canteen. It was placed at the end of the canteen, conveniently near the buffet table. Squad leaders were still coming in. As Tiana started eating, two male squad leaders that she didn't know sat infront of her and Hanji on the other side of the table and one of them said, "Well, it seems like we have a new face around here. Weren't you a cadet only like a few months back?" "Yes. I got promoted today." Tiana answered politely. "Yes, we know that. We were there when it happened. You're sleeping with Levi aren't you? I don't understand why Commander Erwin gives a shitty thug so much importance. I heard you're even carrying Levi's bastard. Is that how you got the promotion? Just asking cause you don't look like you can take down a fly. Strongest woman my ass" the other man said with a smirk. "For your information Steve, Tiana..." Hanji started with an angry expression but was interrupted by Tiana as she said, "Oi Hanji, don't you think the stew tastes amazing today?". Hanji was surprised by Tiana's extremely calm reaction and she figured that Tiana had a plan and thus, didn't talk much on that matter. The guy named Steve, however, did not understand and continued, "Oi Tom, she isn't even denying it. Heard she calls the commander 'uncle'. The commander isn't her uncle for sure. Heard she's from the underground and was taken in by the Hertz. Pretty sure she has an affair with the commander too. What do you recon she'll do to the bastard?" he asked his companion who was named Tom. "I dunno, probably sell it to some lord or something like any whore would." Tom chuckled but stopped immediately to find Tiana looking at him with a calm but piercing look. Tiana gave him a small smile and said, "You see, Steve and Tom, you are wrong in three places. You're right. I am a whore. Judging from how nosy you people are, I'm pretty sure you two know that I was found in a whore house in the underground. Here's where you're wrong. Firstly, you clearly didn't do much research on anything from after I got out from the underground. If you did, you'd not question my promotion. Heck, you'd not try to mess with me. Well, as you two didn't do your research properly, let's start with a fist fight. Practical classes are always better than theoretical ones right? Oh, and I don't want to fight Tom. Steve, you're the big guy, let's do a round. If I can't get you under my feet in 30 seconds, you win.". "You'll fight me? Sugar, I don't hit women" Steve smirked. The whole leader's table were looking at Tiana and Steve. Levi arrived the scene just a while ago and heard most of what Tiana said. "Tiana, I'll take care of him.." Levi tried to say but Tiana stopped him and said, "Let me do this by myself." "Do you happen to be afraid, Steve? " Tiana asked Steve as she stood up from her chair, rolled the sleeves of her shirt and walked infront of the seated Steve. "Steve, she's asking for it. Just beat her ass" Tom told Steve in a bored voice. Steve didn't answer to that and stood up. There was quiet a bit of space between the buffet table and the leader's table. The whole canteen was looking at Steve and Tiana now. Steve charged at Tiana but Tiana simply used her hands to use Steve's height and weight to knock him down. She saw Eren do that to Jean multiple times and practiced it with Levi back when she was getting knife training. Ofcourse, most people weren't surprised by such a feat from Tiana because they all trusted Erwin's decisions. As Steve was trying to get up, he saw Tiana casually walking towards him and kick him in the face with an extremely accurate amount of speed and at an extremely accurate area of the head which knocked him out. "Well, Tom, do your research better next time. By the way, your second mistake was to think that Uncle Erwin isn't my uncle, because, he is. Thirdly, you shouldn't have said that thing about me selling my kid. I wouldn't have given lowlifes like you any attention if you didn't do that. Now that you succeded in attracting my attention, help your friend to the medics. He'll have a concussion." Tiana told Tom, who was speechless by Tiana's abilities. After Tom left with an unconscious Steve, Tiana sat back at her seat and started with her stew. "Those are the bullies among the squad leaders. There are three types of squad leaders around here. Bullies like them, the normal ones, and people like myself or Levi, the ones who actually are assets to the Survey corps. These bullies thought you're one of the normal ones but they didn't think you'd be with the elites. They don't usually sit with us. They just came here today to mess with you. You'd not see them around usually." Hanji explained. "I reckoned you'd find this type of divisions in the military police. Not the Survey Corps." Tiana muttered as she slurped down her now cold stew. "Tiana, every military division has shit like this. Some more than the others. None of the divisions are perfect." Levi answered to that before looking at Hanji and asking, "Hanji, where do you reckon we should buy a house?"

[AUTHOR'S NOTE: Remember how Tiana walked on to Petra kissing Levi while getting to her cleaning duties before the 57th expedition? Now you know how she got the duty of cleaning Levi's room in the first place.]


	20. Spin-off: Tiana's birthday

Tiana POV

"You want my advice on where to buy a house?" Hanji asked, completely confused. I personally was confused too because it was obvious that Hanji would give some really psychotic answer. Even if I didn't consider that, it was not like Levi to ask for advice about something as personal as buying a house. Though it struck to me as unusual, I decided to let it off my head. "What about a house in Ragako? Your kid would get to see a titan before even joining the survey corps!" Hanji advised with her psychotic expression. "Shouldn't have asked you" Levi muttered as an answer to Hanji before turning to me and asking, "How about asking the squad? Aren't you close to them?". I was getting suspicious of his behavior but I chose to keep quiet about it. " Uh...sure?" I answered to that. "Okay. They should be at the common hall after lunch. We could see them there" Levi muttered as he ate the stew.

We walked towards the common room when we were done having lunch. "Levi, are you feeling well?" I asked him on our way as I was feeling suspicious of his behaviour. "Huh? No, I'm fine. Why?" Levi asked raising an eyebrow. "Uh.. Well, it's not like you to ask for advice from anyone except uncle Erwin. It just seemed a bit odd" Tiana replied. "Tiana, what part of this whole thing isn't odd? Do I look like the kind of guy who would get married, have kids, buy a house and all that shit? However, exactly that is happening and, well, I guess I have to do things that I wouldn't normally do." Levi explained himself. I decided that his explanation was fair enough and didn't question him more. "Oh, by the way, you'll do the talking. They're your batch mates after all" Levi added as he walked with me.

"You guys, we need help to choose where to get a house. It would've been helpful if you all had any suggestions." I told the squad. They were all in the common room as Levi predicted. I heard Historia was here but I didn't expect to find her with the others. "Well, you could get one at Dauper village. The scenic beauty there is amazing!" Sasha exclaimed. "You could visit the farmhouse I grew up in. I'll make an orphanage there later and you can keep your kids in my care when you all go to expeditions." Historia chimed in. "Oi, Tiana, leave all that and try my house in Trost. It's the safest district now as the gate is blocked." Jean bragged. "Well, since you've given us so many options, let's just give all of it a shot" Levi told them. "So, you're proposing that we will visit all of those places? That will take some time..." I told Levi, expressing my concern. "Well, we don't have much to do here. Everyone, saddle your horses. We are leaving in an hour." Levi commanded. It was decided that we would visit Dauper first, have some snacks at Sasha's home. Second, we would go to Historia's farmhouse. From there, we would go to Trost, see some properties for sale there, and come back to Capital Mitras by midnight. Sasha, Levi and myself were going for the trip.

Two hours later

We rode to Dauper with Sasha on lead. When we reached Sasha's home, a horde of children and villagers were infront of Sasha's home. Everyone came to see Sasha, now a member of the most elite squad of the survey corps. The way her father boasted about her to the villagers made me wonder, what if I had a father like that? Mr Hertz, my adoptive father tried his best and I respect him dearly for that, but, he never really bragged about me to people. I was homeschooled because of my reputation after all. I barely got out of my home, except for, ofcourse, training sessions with uncle Erwin. As I thought about it, I realised that maybe it was my fault. After all, I never gave him much of a chance to boast. Having a daughter who murdered one of his fellow comrades must've been hard enough for him. People glanced at us as they didn't expect to see Levi with a woman. Sure, I was on the front page of the newspaper once, but I was no where near as popular as Levi. Sasha's father cooked squirrel meat for us with Sashs but we couldn't finish eating it because I found three centipedes crawling on the table and discovered that I'm terrified of them. They looked horrible and I probably never felt my heart stop like this before, not even when I came across titans. Levi decided that the place was too unsanitary and living in the middle of a forest will surely bring more insects, and thus, without much delay, we went for Historia's farmhouse. Sasha asked for permission to stay with her father for a while and Levi granted it. I doubted if he was becoming a softie due to my pregnancy.

The farmhouse was a really nice place but Levi decided that it's too far away from any market place and permanently living there is impossible because of that. After going to Trost, we browsed a few properties and we found one that seemed suiting. The house was near the inner walls, not too far from the market, had a nice front yard and back yard. It had three bedrooms, two of which were upstairs, a sitting room, a dining room and a big kitchen. There were bathrooms in all of the bedrooms and the master bedroom even had a tub. The house being in Trost made things more convenient because, after all, the next expedition will be commenced from Trost. Levi booked the house and filling out the paperworks took long enough. By the time we reached Capital Mitras, it was already 11:45. "That was a long day. I really need some rest now." I yawned as I went for Levi's room with Levi behind me. The room was dark when I went in and suddenly, I felt someone jump at me.

No one's POV

An hour before lunch

As Hanji was taking Tiana's report card and birth certificate to Erwin's office, she noticed something on the birth certificate. Tiana's birthday was tommorow. The walls were in peace and this was Tiana's first birthday after joining the Survey corps, so, Hanji decided that it should be celebrated. With that in her mind, she went to Erwin's office to find Historia discussing something with Erwin. "I've got Tiana's documents" Hanji reported. Erwin took the papers from her as she started mentioning, "I noticed that Tiana's birthday is tommorow. As her friend, I wanted the permission to celebrate it?". "I see. Well, I don't recall the Hertzs ever celebrating her birthday. Probably because the date on her birth certificate is the date when she got rescued. We had no way of knowing her real birthday. I think it would be a nice jesture. Permission granted." Erwin answered. "Hanji-san? Can I help with the arrangements? Tiana owed me a cake" Historia chimed in. "Yes.. Ofcourse, your highness" Hanji answered, shocked by Historia's sudden interest in doing something about Tiana's birthday. "We can plan things in your office, yes?" Historia inquired with a smile. "Yes, ofcourse. Feel free to come by whenever you want. I'll be there." Hanji smiled before leaving the room. She went to her office to find Moblit arranging her books. He always managed to help her out about staying tidy. She assumed that if Moblit wasn't around, Levi probably would've died of a heart attack after visiting Hanji's office. After all, he did knock her out to make her take a bath a couple of times. "Hey, Moblit, we need to hurry things up. Queen Historia might visit my office soon. She probably won't appreciate the mess." Hanji told Moblit as she walked towards her table and took a handful of books to put in her shelf. "Hanji-san... Did Tiana talk to you?" Moblit asked Hanji in a meek voice as he picked up some books from the floor. "Yes she did. When are we going on that date?" Hanji asked, with a tint of blush on her face as she kept the books on the shelf. The books in Moblit's hands fell to the floor as Moblit asked with shock written all over his face, "You're really considering it?". "Why won't I?" Hanji asked, slightly confused. After all, she assumed, that it would be obvious that she would consider it as Moblit had been always beside her, reminding her to eat or sleep when she overworked herself on her experiments. He was always worried for her well being and Hanji found it alluring beyond measure. Before further words could be exchanged between the newly formed couple, Historia entered the room. "Hanji-san, could we plan the preparation now? My meeting with Commander Erwin is done and I hoped to make plans on the arrangements for Tiana's birthday before going back to the castle." Historia said. "Yes, ofcourse. I was planning to get Tiana busy in something and arrange a surprise party for her? Nothing too fancy ofcourse, just Levi squad, Commander Erwin and my squad since she doesn't have much friends. We could arrange it in Levi's office since the state of it is not quiet..great." Hanji explained as she pointed at the huge piles of books and torn papers on the floor. "I see. Shouldn't we inform everyone about the party in that case? I will arrange the food and anything else you would need for decoration." Historia answered. "Ah, yes. Moblit, ask Levi squad and Commander Erwin to come to my office immediately." Hanji commanded Moblit as he ran off to get everyone. Everyone exept Levi was there in a few minutes. "Hanji-san, I didn't find Levi Heichou anywhere" Moblit informed Hanji. "I didn't expect you to find him. He's busy" Hanji answered with a smirk recalling about how she walked onto them a while back. The plan was explained to everyone before they went for lunch. The plan was simple, Erwin mentioned that Levi was supposed to buy a house and thus that could be used as an excuse to get Tiana away from Levi's room. Everyone with a hometown was told to act like their hometown is the best place to get a house and Levi was supposed to get Tiana to go take a look at the places. "She should be getting married as soon as possible. After all, rumours about her pregnancy has already been spreaded and that will give her a bad image if she isn't married. This could also help then speed up the process. " Erwin sighed. All that was left to do was letting Levi know about the plan. "Erwin, I'll send Levi when he arrives for lunch. Could you please inform him about the plan?" Hanji asked Erwin. "Yes. Ofcourse." Erwin answered before going back to his office

During lunch

"So, you're saying that I will have to ask for advice from some kids from my squad about where I'll buy a house and you think that Tiana won't suspect anything. Erwin, did you hit your head somewhere?" Levi answered to Erwin after Erwin said the plan to him. "Levi, do you have a better plan? After all, everything you are doing nowadays is quiet...unusual. A few months back, if anyone told me that you'd get my niece pregnant and try to marry her in a matter of about two months, I'd laugh at them. You can probably make this excuse to some use too." Erwin said in a serious tone. "Okay. I trust your judgement. I'll use your reasoning to try to make Tiana think that all these isn't a hoax." Levi simply answered before leaving Erwin's office. He wondered how he could bring the topic up, given that he normally wouldn't just ask for advice from random people. Suddenly it struck to him. Hanji was a good friend and asking Hanji at the beginning would raise less suspicion. Plus, Hanji would definitely be surprised at his way of changing the plan as asking Hanji wasn't included. "Hanji, where do you reckon we should buy a house?" he asked. Hanji's expression was just what he hoped for.

As phase 1 of the plan was successfully completed, phase 2 was taking place. Levi's office was more than clean and tidy enough so, Hanji and the others didn't have to get bothered with that. Connie and Armin were sent to bring garlands for decorating the office by a tad bit while Historia's castle chefs were already cooking the dinner. By the time everything came together, it was already 11 pm. The food were placed in trays, Sasha, who arrived at 10 pm was kept in a different room so that she won't eat everything up, a garland was placed on Levi's table and the room was cleaned by Eren after all the decoration was done since so many people walking around made the room quiet dirty and Eren insisted that if it isn't cleaned, Levi would take all of their heads. Hanji couldn't disagree much about that. Levi was supposed to get Tiana in the room just at 12 and the room was supposed to be darkened and Hanji personally planned to jump at her and give her a hug. The plan went perfectly till Hanji went for the hug and got thrown on her ass by Tiana.

Levi POV

I honestly saw that coming. Sure, I was able to book a house thanks to this whole plan but I was completely sure that if anyone jumps at Tiana in the darkness, they would be flipped in the air. Atleast I would do that for sure. The lamps were turned on after Hanji was thrown to the ground and Tiana looked genuinely surprised by all the decorations. "What's the meaning of all these?" she asked softly, her voice filled with curiosity. "Well, we were trying to surprise you for your birthday. I mean, we don't know your real birthday but this is what's on your birth certificate so... Hey, you didn't have to throw me so hard." Hanji muttered while getting up. "I... I thought you were a burglar... Thank you. All of you. " Tiana's voice cracked as she said this. A small smile formed on her lips while a single drop of tear escaped her eye. Right then Sasha barged inside the room with Connie running behind her to catch her. I was slightly annoyed because of this as I was quiet enjoying Tiana's reaction. I expected her to react like that because, as Erwin mentioned, she never had a birthday before. I had to admit, even I had birthdays when my mother was alive. It wasn't much, my mother cooked a chicken stew with the low grade chicken stock and bony pieces of chicken she would get in the market. Back then, it was the most delicious thing I had ever eaten, but, that was probably because she was an amazing cook. We would have a good christmas dinner as well as a birthday treat as both were in the same day. "There are two cakes... Meat... Bread... Steamed potato..." Sasha whispered as she was shaking. "Tiana asked me to get you a cake remember? I decided that I'll get one only for you" Historia told Sasha. To that, Sasha fell on her knees saying, "I've been blessed by goddesses!" while crying. The smile on Tiana's face was growing larger by the second as everyone wished her happy birthday. She hugged Erwin, and surprisingly, Hanji too. As she was talking to the squad, mostly thanking them, I walked to Erwin and said, "I booked a house in Trost. Seems like you were right about using this situation to speed up the process of the wedding.". "I see. I recommend that you buy the furnitures from the retailer who makes our office furnitures. After all, that desk I'm using now has been used for decades." Erwin answered. "I'll consider it" I replied to that. The cake was cut, everyone had dinner, and when it was time to leave, I called Eren and told him, "Oi Eren, clean the room. I'll give you 30 minutes.". Saying that, I walked towards Tiana, who was saying goodnight to Hanji as she was leaving. " Tiana, Eren will clean the room. Let's go to the balcony here." I told her. She followed me to the balcony in the east wing. The last time I came here, I was with Farlan and Isabel. We didn't move to the headquarters back then as there wasn't much time before the expedition. The scouts were in wall Sina for the mission of picking us up from the underground. We moved to the headquarters in Wall Maria after that mission. I've been in this branch after loosing Farlan and Isabel but, I never tried to go back to that balcony. Being here with Tiana made me feel emotions that I stopped feeling long ago. What if Farlan and Isabel were alive? They would've been very happy about the fact that I will get married. I was sitting exactly where I sat all those years ago and Tiana sat where Farlan did. "They wrote 'Happy 19th birthday Tiana' on the cake" Tiana said with a chuckle. I raised an eyebrow at her and asked, "Aren't you 19?". Tiana looked away from me at the starry sky. "I don't know. They assumed my age before taking me to the Hertzs. My pimp apparently told them that I was working there for two years. I looked too young and malnourished, so, they decided that I was 7 as any child under 5 couldn't survive rape. There was no way of knowing my actual age, my actual birthday, my real parents, anything. All I remember about my birth mother is a name. They searched the birth registers because selling off a minor is a crime but they didn't find anyone of that name. That, however, is common in the underground." Tiana sighed. "Tiana, you'll be a better mother than yours. Our child won't face things like that. We will make sure of it. Maybe, that would give both of us some peace." I answered to Tiana. I didn't know a better way to make her feel better. "You're right." Tiana told me with a smile. Her strength amazed me. I stared at her for a moment. She, indeed, was the most beautiful woman I ever laid my eyes on.


	21. Requiem

Tiana POV

_I woke up at morning to find the room empty like usual. Mother was never home at morning. She would bring men in at night and leave with them at morning, only coming back at afternoon. I went out of the house to the busy streets._

_I sat beside the well with my friend Aurora. This was the well where everyone from the whorehouse came to get water. Aurora's face was blurry, I could only make out the golden hair. She wasn't as thin as I was though. She came here every day with her mother at lunch time. She had a packet of food for me everyday. Her mother was a good woman as she gave me food. Aurora looked down upon me, made me do her chores, but I didn't mind. Atleast they kept my hunger at bay. Atleast she talked to me. Most children didn't talk to me because their mothers didn't like my mother. Probably because my mother was the most beautiful woman around. Aurora's mother didn't like her too but she was kind enough to give me food. _

_I was standing infront of the huge gap on the underground ceiling. Most people didn't know about this place but I came across it one day while walking in the streets. It was where I saw sunlight for the first time. I read about it in the story book that my mother bought got me but before I found this place, I never thought that it existed. This sunlight filled area gave me a dream, a dream to go up there with my mother and live happily. If I could ever take her there, wouldn't she be proud of me? I stood there, wondering how life would be up there when I saw a raven haired boy coming from a different direction. I decided it was best to leave since being alone near men was never a good idea in the underground. I heard that from Aurora. _

_I came back home in the evening. Our home was an average sized room in a big building. The room had a nice soft bed but I wasn't allowed to sleep on it. It was my mother and her customer's bed. I slept on a pile of bedsheets in the corner of the room. There were two men there when I arrived. My mother was there too. The men said that they have a new home for me. When I asked if my mother was coming, they said she isn't. I hugged my mother and begged her to stop them from taking me away from her. It's true that she barely spent time with me and when she did, she only shouted but that's the life I knew and I loved her. After all, she did buy me a book to read when her customers were there. She cared enough to do that and that was more than enough reason for me to love her. My mother looked at me and smiled at me for the first time in my life. "Tiana, go with them. I promise I will come back for you. If you go, then we can go to the upper grounds and live happily. I will be proud of you Tiana." she said, hugging me, with a soothing voice. I had to make her proud. She never came. My head got filled with screams of my useless begging for them to stop._

I woke up with a jolt. I was in bed with Levi. He was sleeping peacefully, slightly snoring. I ran my fingers into his hair. It was a nightmare. One of the many nightmares that kept me awake almost every night. Its always either Jacob, every time I got raped, the death of my squad, or this. My mother made a promise to come back and rescue me from that horrible place. If the Survey corps didn't find me first, would I be with her? As a child, I always wondered that. I haven't had this nightmare for a while. The last time I dreamt about this was during my trainee corps days. It had been so long... My mind wondered again, would I be happier if I was with my mother? "Are you okay Tiana?" Levi's voice called out. He was awake now too and looking at me without getting up. "I'm okay" I answered. "I see. Take a bath. Your skin is as good as a waterfall right now" he remarked pointing at my sweating body. As I got up to go to the bathroom, he called out, "Don't take too much time. I need to clean myself too before going to that rotten place.". That's right. We were going underground today. It has been a week since my birthday and we had three meetings and it was decided that Levi and I will go undercover, find out the places where the lords are hiding. Hanji squad, Levi squad and my squad will be nearby and we will report back and they will attack and capture the lords and their guards. Yes, Hanji was assigned three new squad members and I got my own squad. Like Levi, I was allowed to handpick my own squad members. Everyone was there to see how I do it. They thought, like Levi, I would intimidate them, hit them without letting them rest and then choose the one who dodged most of the hits. However I decided I would do something different.

3 days ago

_A group of 10 soldiers, ones without any squad leader stood infront of me. They looked nervous but determined. It was funny since all of them were my seniors. Levi squad, Hanji squad and some other people were watching how I do things. Levi and Hanji were present too. "Okay, so, each one of you, I want you to think up a strategy that you would use to kill me" I told them. I gave them 10 minutes to think. "Alright. I will test all of you now. If you can kill me, congratulations, you'll get to be the squad leader instead of myself. If you can't, you would learn how to defend yourself against someone like me." I told them after their thinking time was over. I stood infront of the first one in line and waited for him to charge at me. I noticed that he got into defensive position. "That's a good strategy. Seems like he learnt something from that fight in the canteen." I thought. I charged at him and i noticed that he was going to kick me by the movement of his body and I just used his leg coming at me as a stair, jumped onto his shoulder, wrapped my legs on his neck. "If I incline backwards, he will fall but I can just use my legs to snap his neck to speed up the process" I explained the wide eyed soldiers. The new recruits from Hanji squad was surprised by how I turned the situation upside down but others who have seen me in action or sparring with Levi weren't surprised. Levi didn't look impressed however. "I learned from my original mentor, the commander, that you have to be ready for any situation and predict the enemy's move before making a move. A personal addition that I made to that was, out of all the moves you can use, use the safest one. In war, there's no reason to be valiant. Try to save youself first if you're better than others. If you die saving someone who's less able than you, that's always a bad thing for humanity. Except all these, I learned two more things from my squad leader, firstly, there's always more to learn. Secondly, try to be as_ _unpredictable as possible. I've seen the commander do the second thing as well. I never won a sword fight against him. Judging from the expression of my precious squad leader, I'm sure I have something to learn from this small fight too." I explained to the soldiers as I got down from the surprised soldier's shoulder before looking at Levi. "Your angle of stepping on his leg could be improved. You had a 20% chance of falling down" Levi remarked. "See? Even I'm not perfect. Perfection comes with experience. I hope the ones I choose will be great by nine months. We wont be attending the next expedition which will commence in a few months as I will be on leave. I will still train you all with all I've got and I hope the ones I choose will turn out to be the elite soldiers I'm looking for." I explained before moving on to the next soldier._

Basically, I taught them that they can learn how to hit me back unlike Levi. Levi joined me in the shower a while later and no matter how much we both wanted to have some time to ourselves, we had to make it to breakfast just in time as our mission will commence just after breakfast. I wore the clothes that Hanji bought for me. It was a low lined dress, the type bar women wear. Levi wore some of his so called old clothes from down there. Those clothes could pass as new as Levi was the type of person who knew how to maintain standards of the simplest of things. Breakfast was bland as usual, Steve and Tom stayed away from me as usual. They avoided me for the last week and I intended to keep it that way. When we were all ready to go, I went to the courtyard and found all of our squads assembled. We lectured them about the plan yesterday and they know exactly what they had to do. We all took a carriage and went near the center of Mitras and walked the rest of the path to the stairs to the underground. I remembered how I looked up, wondering how the world above would be like when I was a child. Commander Dok was helping us out with the whole mission and we faced no trouble from the military police guarding the entrance of the stairs. The stairways were under the control of different lords before the coup d'état but now, the military police took control of that area. As I went down the stairs flashes of memories struck me. It was all hazy but since I walked by this very road every day since I gained consciousness, I remembered it to some extent. After all, I did escape the room those men held me in every day when there weren't any customers and when no one noticed. I got caught every time though and a good beating came along with it. This was the road to the gap of sunlight. Just a few right and left turns from here. The stench was just as bad as before. I almost forgot all about it. I didn't notice when I grabbed Levi's hand. He didn't give any verbal response to that though. He just squeezed my hand slightly as a bit of reassurance. The squads blended in with the public near the stairs and we walked towards the high class whorehouses. Somehow, the roads looked familiar. While we were still on the normal underground territory, Levi decided to make a detour and go to a pub that he knows here for more information on how things at the upper class whorehouses are before jumping into the territory without any knowledge on what we are dealing with. Levi assumed that if he still had the reputation as he did back in his time down here, it would be more difficult to blend in. The plan originally was that we both would get into this pub named Devil's Punchbowl. I would flirt up with the lords to get information while Levi will make sure I'm not attacked. I had to take flirting lessons from Diana, a girl from my squad. Apparently I'm horrible at it. I was uncomfortable with the whole ordeal in general but it had to be done. We entered a shady looking pub with all sorts of men inside. One processed to catcall me but I felt Levi's hand on my waist and he stopped and whispered to the guy next to him. Levi went with me to the bartender and told him, "Call big mama. Say her that Levi's here for business.". "Yes ofcourse! I'll be right here with her!" the nervous bartender told Levi before running into a room just behind the bar. The whole pub were stealing glances at us by now. Whispers of "Levi's here!" and "Levi got himself a woman?" could be heard frequently. "Seems like things didn't change much" Levi sighed at me. "Seems like you were popular with women here too" I remarked, noticing all the waitresses glaring at me. "Not giving women much attention apparently is attractive. I don't understand how that works" Levi answered in his monotoned voice. "Agreed. I wouldn't have liked you if you didn't talk to me while I cleaned your room" I answered. "I talked to you because you know what you're talking about. I prefer talking to people like that over people who shit over any topic I can possibly bring up by their lack of common sense" Levi remarked just as the so called big mama showed up. She sure was big. She was a fat woman with a motherly looking face, black hair, a kind smile. "Levi! I was so worried when I heard that the Survey corps stole you away! Heard you made a name up there too? Bless your soul, if there were more people like you down here, the poor would've been much better off. Things haven't been the same since you left... who's this lovely lady you brought with you?" Big mama talked without giving either of us any chance to speak. "Doesn't seem like it. Aren't there any new hot shots out here? After all, these people are still looking at me like I never left. And that's my fiancee. Her name is Tiana. Anyway, I was here for information about how things are at the upper class area. Are things the same there as here?" Levi asked her. "Levi, no one have been more influential around here except you and Kenny. The Dubois brothers tried to get on top after you, Farlan and Isabel left but they are basically the upper class lord's pawns now. Speaking of Farlan and Isabel, why didn't they come with you?" Big mama asked Levi. I looked at him, feeling sorry for him. His expression didn't change when he told her, "They're dead". " Farlan... He's dead?" a waitress who just came near the bar to take an order to a customer, said as tears streamed down her eyes. "Victoria dear, go to the staff room. Take a day off today" big mama told the crying girl who nodded and left as big mama motioned another girl to get the order. "Poor girl waited for him for years. Thought he's alive and will come back. Remember back in the day when you three would come down here and Victoria with Caroline would gawk at Farlan and you? I had to get Caroline off your back so many times... That girl just never got the message that you weren't interested." Big mama sighed before looking at me and changing the depressing subject by telling me, "Speaking of which, how did you manage to get him settled? I thought he would die alone or something". "Uh.. I don't know why he decided to like me honestly." I answered nervously but Levi interjected and said, "She's from the underground and didn't have a decent life down here and I could relate to her. Except for that, she isn't some damsel in distress that I have to save which makes things interesting. That's all." with a frown. "I don't think I saw you around here before..." big mama told me with a frown. "Well, I was rescued by the survey corps when I was 7. I was sold at a whorehouse when I was 5 or so. I dont remember much from my time here anyway." I answered. "You poor thing... This is common down here with all those horrible people... I'm glad you made through it." Big mama said with a smile before Levi interjected and said, "we don't have much time. So, basically, we are up against the Dubois brothers and I'm still popular here.". "Yes, that's all about it." Big mama answered. "Well, thanks for the help. You're as informative as always" Levi told her as she mumbled "It was always Farlan who told that to me...". As we got out of the pub, I told Levi, "She seems like a nice person". "Yeah, she's one of the few nice and useful ones. She knows almost everything about what's going on down here. She was my informant about new jobs and clients for a long time." Levi answered. I didnt question him more. "I will be outside the pub. Fire your pistol if something goes wrong and kill anyone you have to. I'll get in if I hear any sound." Levi instructed me and I nodded. The streets seemed more and more familiar as we walked towards the upper class territory. My heart stopped as we came near to a junction there. There stood, the well where I used to see Aurora and her mother when she gave me a packet of food everyday. Levi noticed my shocked expression and asked, "Do you know this place?". " Yeah... I lived here..." I answered.

Levi POV

I was surprised by what Tiana just said. As much as I can recall, when she told me about her life underground, she mentioned that her mother was so poor that she had to sell her off. Tiana said that her mother told her that she will come back for her once her mother had enough money but that never happened because Tiana was rescued by the survey corps already. If Tiana lived in the upper class territory, that would mean that her mother was an upper class escort. Upper class escorts are never poor. Infact, they are able to live quiet a good life in the underground. Sure, they aren't rich enough to go above ground but they aren't supposed to be in a situation where they have to sell off their child. Tiana also mentioned that she never got food at home but if she's from here, that's not supposed to happen. "Don't let this bother you now Tiana. We have a mission to complete" I told her as we walked towards the Devil's Punchbowl. Tiana got her emotions in control in a matter of seconds. As we reached the pub, I looked at Tiana, motioning her to go in. She nodded and did exactly what I told her to do. I stood outside the pub, leaning on the wall, with the hood of my cloak up. It was a good decision to wear a cloak since people would've recognised me easily if they saw my face. After all, I did kill many people around here. This was the upper class area but crimes were higher here than the lower class area. Sure, people kill eachother in the lower class area due to the lack of food or simply for power but here, starting from illegal weapon trading to raping innocent children, anything could happen here. I stole the 3DMGs from here and created quiet a ruckus which made me quiet popular in this areas too. If the Dubois brothers were working with the lords, there could be quiet a problem as in the past they tried to recruit me to their gang but I refused to join cause I didn't want to lick the asses of those higher class lords like they did. Sure, I could take on them at any time but I didn't know if Tiana could given that she's pregnant. I hoped that they wouldn't show up. As I was thinking about the situation we are in, a red headed woman approached me. "Hello handsome, you don't look like you're from down here. As much as I know, people from up there come here only for one thing. You see, I'm the best escort you'll find around here..." she told me seductively but I didn't look at her and didn't let her finish by simply saying, "not interested". "Oh you're quiet grumpy aren't you? Well keep this card. Come if you change your mind" She laughed before shoving a card to my hand and running off. Just as I was going to throw the card away, Tiana called me out. "I got all the information we needed. If I didnt go under cover, Id slice the hands of those bastards for trying to touch me. Seems like Diana's lesson worked. Anyway, who was that woman?" Tiana informed and asked. "Some prostitute. Let's go talk to Hanji and get the squads to attack." I told Tiana in a casual as I threw the card away. "I want to see which bitch tried to hit on my fiance" she mumbled in an annoyed tone as she picked up the card from the ground. "Tiana, that's filthy. Don't pick it up" I commanded but she didn't listen. Her expression changed as she picked up the card. There was a name and an address on the card. "Levi, did she have red hair and black eyes?" Tiana asked in barely a whisper. I looked at Tiana with confusion as I told her, "Yeah she did. Why?". "That was my mother..." Tiana answered, her voice barely a whisper. I was surprised by the whole thing but I remained calm and told her, "Tiana, we have to report back and attack.". " You expect me to not take the chance to see my real mother? Levi, I need to find her. Please." Tiana said in an agitated voice. "Tiana, let's go to see Hanji first. There's an adress on the card. We can find her later. Hanji can give us a plan." I told her with a softened expression. "Okay" she sighed as she followed me.

"Tiana has a lead on her birth mother?" Hanji asked, equally surprised as I was. "Yes. Give us a plan now. We already know where to get all three of the lords. Something needs to be done about this too." I told Hanji. Hanji thought for a while before saying, "I'll take command of all of your squads. You two can go find Tiana's mother". Then she looked at Tiana, who was impatient and ready to just run around and search for her mother,

and said, " Tiana, let me know everything in details. Best of luck!" with a smile. "I will. Thanks Hanji" Tiana said with a smile before running off with me behind her, searching for her mother like her life depended on it.

No one's POV

[AUTHOR'S NOTE: Imagine Attack on Titan's fourth ending playing in the background]

**Daichi to oozora naze wakareta no da rou**

**The earth and the sky, why have they split so far apart?**

Tiana was hastily asking people about the address written on the card. They showed her directions and she looked for her long lost mother like a child lost in a crowd. Levi ran after her, asking her to calm down and not blow their cover but Tiana wasn't listening. She knew, she would never get this opportunity again. She remembered the way she ran in the streets of the underground, away from that horrible room where she was locked up just for a speck of sunlight to touch her face. She wondered, what if she was born up there? Things would've been so much different. She would've been living with her parents, a peaceful life without any sorrow or regrets. Why were things so different? Why was the life underground so far apart from the life of the people above?

A woman showed Tiana a building in the series of the higher class whore houses. Tiana ran inside the building, looking for the room number written on the card with Levi behind her. Levi wasn't surprised by her behavior. After all, he would've done the same if he found his mother. Too bad that she was dead. Tiana never talked much about her mother but by her attitude, he assumed that she was loved. He didn't know how wrong he was. Tiana stood infront of the room. She looked at Levi with a face filled with various emotions and whispered to him, "Should I knock?". Levi's expression softened, he understood how she felt. "Yes. Go on" he encouraged her. She knocked the door softly. Moments, that felt like lifetimes, later, the door opened and a short red haired woman opened the door. The same one that Levi saw. "What do you want? For God's sake, I paid the bills. Ask your owner to stop with his shit. Sending people to my doorstep every day... Don't you military police people have nothing else to do?" the woman grumbled. "I'm sorry but you have mistaken. I'm not here for any bills" Tiana interjected. "Huh? Then why are you wasting my time?" the woman grumbled again, sounding more irritated than before. "Uh.. Well, you're Aphrodite right?" Tiana asked her, trying to control the slight falter in her voice. The woman noticed Levi by then. "Yes. That's me. You're here because I talked to that man? You see, I don't care if you're his wife or anything. I do what I do for the money and looking for people's marital status isn't my job." Aphrodite answered in a snarky tone. "I'm not here for that. I needed to ask, did you ever have a daughter named Tiana?" Tiana told her, not giving her any more chance to assume things. "Yes. I remember that brat. Did she die or something?" Aphrodite asked in a bored voice. Tiana's eyes widened at that. She didn't quiet expect a warm welcome but she expected better than that. "She didn't die. She's standing infront of you because she needed answers about why you let her get raped at the age of five" Levi answered for Tiana. He didn't want Tiana to break down. She didn't need that in her life.

**Sekai wa zankoku de saredo utsukushii**

**The world is cruel yet it remains so beautiful**

Levi watched Tiana, her face now void of emotions. "You promised that you will come back for me. Why didn't you? After going up there, I saw mothers love their children, hug them, tell them stories, talk to them, kiss them. Why didn't you? The only time you smiled at me was when you made me that promise and sent me off with that horrible man. Why did you never make food for me? Why did I have to beg for food from the other children till I was taken away? Why were you always in good health while I starved? Why did I never get a childhood?" Tiana asked Aphrodite in a monotone voice. Levi noticed, even her monotone voice had a hint of the demanding tone that a complaining child usually have. "I wanted you to die of starvation or something. You were a liability. I got less customers because of you. They didn't want to have sex with a child around, except ofcourse, the freaky ones. You really thought I was going to come to get you back? I only told that so that you would leave me alone. What do you think the buyers thought when you were bawling by holding my legs? You almost got me in trouble there! Sure, the commander, that bastard who knocked me up with you gave me money to raise you but that made up for my usual lost income. I wasn't going to spend that on you ofcourse because you weren't supposed to be there. And then, even that stopped after that moron pimp of yours got caught and you were taken. Is that answer good enough?" Aphrodite chuckled as she sneered at Tiana. "And which commander are you talking about?" Tiana asked, her voice void of any emotion. "Pixis. The old man with a taste in women. Why, you're gonna run to him now?" Aphrodite sneered again just as a member from Tiana's squad arrived to look for Levi and Tiana. "Squad leader Tiana, Levi heichou, Hanji-san sent me to check for progress. The lords are successfully captured with the Dubois brothers and their gang. Should I report to her that you're...here?" the soldier looked uncomfortable about the whole thing as they were in a whorehouse. "It's fine. We were leaving anyway" Tiana answered to the soldier. "Squad leader? Of the survey corps?" Aphrodite whispered as she noticed the soldier's uniform. "Yes. Atleast she's doing more for humanity than you did for your own child." Levi told Aphrodite in his usual stoic expression. "Tiana dear! I had mistaken! Please forgive me! I promise, I will be the mother you deserve. Just take me with you." Aphrodite held Tiana's hand suddenly as she said that, with a complete change in her expression. Tiana looked at her, her eyes calm and emotionless. "I had a mother. She died when wall Maria fell." she told Aphrodite with a small smile before following Levi out of the whorehouse.

**Ishi wo nageru mono to nagerareru mono ni wa youi ni koerarenu saku wa aru**

**Those who cast stones, and those whom they strike, between them lie fences difficult to overcome**

"Don't regret anything, Tiana. If you begin to regret, you'll dull your future decisions and let others make choices for you." Levi told her. It was something that Erwin taught him. Something that helped him move on with life after losing everything. Levi noticed that a smile formed on her face which turned into a low chuckle and then a louder laugh. He didn't know that she was laughing at her own fate. It was ironic really, given that her desire for answers led to her knowing things she'd rather prefer not to know. She looked at Levi's worried face. The world was cruel but people like him was what made it beautiful. "I don't regret it. It is how it is." she answered with a smile. She couldn't blame fate. After all, she wanted the answers. At this point, she needed more answers. More answers that she would be better off without knowing. Tiana was the victim of the woman she just met. This was meant to happen. After all, she abandoned her. There was no way to get over that.

**Tachi ichi ga kawareba seigi wa kiba wo muku**

**If one of them changes stance, justice will bare it's fangs**

A thought crossed across Tiana's mind. Should she talk to Commander Pixis? If he has a different reaction, then she might actually have a father. She looked at Levi and said, "Levi, I need to go to the Garrison branch".

**Ori no naka de hoeteiru no wa hatashite dochira ka?**

**That which is howling within the cage, in the end, which side is it?**

Tiana stood infront of Commander Pixis's office, deciding whether to knock. The worst case scenerio should be, him acting exactly the same way Aphrodite acted. Tiana didn't know if she was ready for that. The curiosity inside her was screaming to be released but then, she realised that in the end, it didn't matter. That woman said that Commander Pixis stopped paying her after Tiana was rescued. Why wasn't she put into an orphanage? Suddenly, it was all coming together. Getting adopted by a couple who served in the Garrison to getting trained by the best soldier of the military at that time after killing a man instead of being sent to a juvenile detention center, it all suddenly made sense. Commander Pixis knew all about her and he made sure she didn't get in any trouble. The only question was, if he knew, why didn't he raise her himself? The answer was as clear as water to Tiana. He simply didn't want the burden. "Aren't you going to knock, Hertz?" someone called out. Tiana looked at the direction of the voice to find commander Pixis standing. "I decided not to knock. Good evening commander." Tiana answered professionally. "Well, I'm curious about what you had to say now. After all, I don't find many squad leaders standing infront of my office without knocking." Pixis chuckled. "I see. Commander, I didn't expect you to know my name. I'm just a mere squad leader, who only got promoted a week back and in a different military branch." Tiana answered in a monotoned but polite voice. "Well, you did make the front page a few months back and the news about your engagement reached every corner of the walls. You're pretty popular nowadays, Hertz" Commander Pixis stated with a smile. "Thank you for the compliment, commander. However, could it be that you know me from 12 years back?" Tiana asked, her expression and voice emotionless. "Ah.. I suppose you found out. You see Tiana, I went to this underground pub with my friends in the interior police. Apparantly, they sell the best liquor in in wall Sina. The same liquor was supplied to the lords and the so called king himself. It was one of the few things that wasn't sold legally to anyone with less power than them. Anyway, I drank too much and ended up on Aphrodite's bed. She looked beautiful but had a mind as bad as a witch. She contacted me a month later, claiming that she was pregnant with you. She wanted me to get rid of you but I made a deal with her. Since I couldn't just kill an innocent child and because I'm not a family person, I decided to pay her money to raise you. It all went like that for 7 years before you were found. Torturing that pimp made him say that they bought you from Aphrodite. We searched for her as selling minors are illegal but she got the hint and moved somewhere else. I offered the Hertz couple to take you in as they didn't have children of their own. I ordered Erwin to train you after you killed Jacob. I spoke to the judge on behalf of you so that you would be safe... Tiana, won't you ask me why I didn't just raise you myself?" Pixis explained and asked as Tiana was quiet the whole time.

**Shinzou wo sasageta modosenai tasogare ni**

**I offered my heart to the unrestorable twilight**

"Commander, you answered that question yourself. You said you're not a family person. It's fine, commander. I figured that out before you explained anything. I didn't knock because I accept who I am. I am Tiana Hertz, daughter of Thomas and Gloria Hertz. They raised me. Sure, they weren't perfect but they tried their best. They are my parents. No one else. Good day commander" Tiana answered with a smile, saluted, and left. That's right, it was all pointless. Tiana knew that she was never going to have parents who are alive. That's because the Hertzs were dead and if anyone deserved to be her parents, it was them.

**Susumi tsudzuketa yoru no hate rakuen wa doko ni aru?**

**At the end of a long night where can paradise be found? **

Tiana walked towards the courtyard of the Garrison branch. Levi was supposed to be waiting there. It's true that she got little time with her parents, the time that she wasted by her own personal guilt and ego. It was the sad reality. However as she walked towards Levi, she remembered that she still had many people who cared about her. She had Levi, the man who would prioritise her above everything, Erwin, who taught her how to fight and was always beside her when she lost something dear to her, her friends, the ones who tried their best to make her feel happy and help her in any way they can. "How did it go?" Levi asked her as she approached him. Tiana smiled at him and said, "I don't regret it. I found out that I'm Tiana Hertz after all. Not Tiana Pixis. Levi, I need to go to the military burial grounds. I've got something left to do."

**Requiem, requiem, kono yoru ni chitta na mo naki hana yo**

**Requiem, requiem, to the nameless flowers scattered in the night**

Tiana stood infront of her parent's headstones with a small bouquet. She didn't visit them before because she was angry at them for leaving her alone again. She grew out of that after she joined the military but then, she just never got the time. She sat infront of the headstones on the grass carpet. Two drops of tears escaped her eyes as a small smile appeared on her face.

**Douka yasuraka ni akatsuki ni nemure**

**Please rest in peace as dawn breaks**

"Mom... Dad... I think I found a way home" Tiana told her parents with a smile.

[AUTHOR'S NOTE: I took the name of the pub and the gang I mentioned from the internet because I'm horrible with names. By the way, I wrote most of the fanfiction based on the manga but started following the anime in the middle of the uprising arc. So, if the storyseems a bit jumbled up, its because of this. Oh, and help me out with the decision of whether Levi and Tiana should have a son or a daughter!]


	22. Promises that are meant to be broken

[Author's note: I forgot to mention that I assumed that the army burial grounds were in Capital Mitras, given that its the safest place within the Walls. The burial grounds doesn't necessarily hava bodies underneath the headstones as many survey corps soldiers don't have their bodies recovered after expeditions. There's a different section in the burial grounds for soldiers whose bodies weren't recovered. The headstones there are cluttered together.]

No one's POV

Tiana was sitting with Levi in a carriage. Levi held her close to him, with one of his arm around her. He was genuinely worried about her as he witnessed her going through one of the toughest situation a person can possibly go through. Levi knew that because he went through something similar when Kenny left him. Tiana told him all about how things went with Pixis on their ride to the military burial grounds. Tiana rarely cried and watching her cry made his heart wrench. He wanted to see her happy for every second of her life. Sure, she was trying her best to accept the situation as it is but he knew that she was torn inside. It was just a matter of time before she vented it out. They were on their way to the scout regiment branch. Hanji and the others were already there and they were running late. Levi and Tiana had to report to Erwin just as they reached and Levi had a bad feeling that Erwin must've known everything about Tiana.

After reaching, the first thing they did was going to Erwin's office. Hanji was in there when they entered. She just reported about the mission. As she was leaving, she gave Tiana a sympathetic smile before getting out of the room. Tiana and Levi reported everything related to the mission before Tiana started, "and, I found my biological mother." looking straight at Erwin's eyes. Erwin shifted in his seat. He didn't expect to hear this. "I see. Did you talk to her?" he asked softly. "Yes. Did you know about Commander Pixis, Uncle Erwin? That he's my biological father?" Tiana asked, with a cold stare at Erwin. Erwin sighed at that and said, "Yes I knew. He mentioned it when he asked me to train you." "Ah. And why didn't you ever say it to me?" Tiana asked in a cold voice. "Tiana, you had a good family. If I told you about it, you would've wanted to go to Commander Pixis and ofcourse, you would've been disappointed. I rescued you from that place, Tiana. I didn't want to see you get hurt anymore." Erwin said as he got up from his seat and walked towards Tiana. Tiana sighed at the reply. He wasn't wrong. She was glad that he didn't tell her about it when she was younger. She probably wouldn't be able to accept the situation. "Uncle Erwin, I had to ask something from you." Tiana looked away from Erwin and said in a soft voice. "What is it?" Erwin asked. "I want you to walk me down the aisle." Tiana told Erwin, still looking away. "I.. I'd be honored to do that, Tiana" Erwin answered, surprised by the sudden request. He saw Tiana almost like a daughter and he knew that he was a father figure to Tiana. It was natural that she would ask him to do this at some point but it still surprised him, given that he hid the fact that Pixis was Tiana's real father and that Tiana just recently found out. "Uncle Erwin?" Tiana called out, throwing Erwin out of his thoughts. "Yes?" he asked. "Thank you" Tiana told him with a smile, before walking out of the door. "That was unexpected" Levi told Erwin casually. He was watching the whole thing silently. "Yes. Indeed" Erwin answered, still quiet shaken. "Well, I'll take my leave now" Levi told him before leaving the room and following Tiana.

Levi POV

Tiana was waiting for me outside Erwin's room. I certainly didn't expect Tiana to forgive Erwin so easily. I wanted to kill him because Mike Zacharias threw my face in a puddle and he supported it. Sure, I grew up, I stopped taking small things like that seriously, but, Tiana is much younger than I am and such maturity is hard to come by. I motioned her to follow me back to my room and she did what I asked.

When we reached my room, the first thing Tiana did after getting her shoes off was, she sat on my bed. "Tiana, you're filthy now. Atleast change those clothes before sitting anywhere..." I tried to tell her but was interrupted by the look on her face. She was crying. Not like the few drops of tears in the burial grounds, she had water streaming from her face and she was sobbing quietly. I walked towards Tiana and hugged her. Her sobbing increased as she kept saying "Why me?" and "What did I do wrong?". I patted her head awkwardly and told her, "You're not the one who's wrong. What's wrong, is this world.". I didn't know how to comfort her better than this. She continued to sob. "Tiana, we'll be better parents than them. Our child will never have to face something like this. I promise, Tiana, I'll make sure our child gets to grow up in a world without Titans or bad people." I found myself telling her. She looked at me, teary eyed. "You think we'll be good parents?" she asked me. "I don't know Tiana. All I know is that we will try our best." I answered. She hugged me as I answered. Her sobbing stopped. Her mouth was still carved into a frown and her eyes still watery. "Let's take a bath, okay? You'll feel better when we are clean" I told her. Being clean ofcourse made everything better. She smiled at me and said, "How are you planning to tolerate our child? Apparantly children are supposed to be dirty". "I'll train them how to clean themselves and how to clean the house" I grunted. That somehow made Tiana laugh. "They are children, Levi. Not dogs." she said. "What's the difference? Both are nagging small things." I answered. Atleast, that's how I remembered my childhood, Kenny training me around. I think I turned out pretty well. "I guess I'll have to give you the parenting book in Uncle Erwin's collection." Tiana sighed as she got up from the bed. "Huh? Why does Erwin have a parenting book?" I questioned, curious about the whole deal. "Well, he used parenting tricks on me to trick me to listen to him when we trained. Unfortunately, I came across the book and read it and tried to use a few tricks on him too. He caught on with that soon obviously." Tiana answered, sounding nostalgic. "Ah, I see. I'd read it then. Go take a bath now. You're getting my room filthy" I told Tiana as she ran to the bathroom.

2 months later

No One's POV

Tiana was helping Historia manage the kids in the orphanage. She had been learning a few tricks into making kids like her. Historia made her own orphanage using all the property seized from the lords. Many board meetings were held to discuss the backlash from other aristocrats but in the end, Historia ended up getting more public support than ever. Levi backed the whole thing up as the captain of the survey corps since he was from the underground, and so did Erwin, given that he had a niece who was born in the underground. Tiana made more name for herself as she personally carried out an operation to rescue as much children as possible from the underground along with her squad. The media caused quiet a backlash though, now that the news of her engagement with Levi, her sudden promotion and the fact that she was unmarried and pregnant went widespread in the walls. Her past was brought up, headlines were made about the murder she committed back when she was a child. As an answer to all these, Tiana finally decided to talk about her past to the media. She told them all she remembered about her life in the underground, how she was molested by Jacob and how the murder was just self defence. She ofcourse, never mentioned Pixis since she didn't consider him as her father. Questions that were arised about her character were hushed down when she told the media, "My promotion doesn't have anything to do with my relationship with Levi heichou. I have my own walls between my personal life and my career. If any of you made the effort to read the newspaper from when wall Rose was breached, you could see that I was branded as humanity's strongest woman. If any of you still have any faith in that, then you would know that my promotion was justified. And about my pregnancy, the problem with everyone was that the fact that I had a physical relationship before marriage, right? Well, I've had that when I was 5. I was brought up in the upper class whorehouses and I am pretty sure many of the nobles in wall Sina did unspeakable things to me. If any of you try to talk about what's right and wrong, you should go find them instead of pointing fingers at me." The survey corps moved back to Trost, given that the next expedition will take place from there. Levi had already got the ownership of the house he paid for and he also ordered furnitures for the house, which would be ready by the time the operation to take back Wall Maria was over. While Levi was busy with a pile of paperworks, Tiana visited the orphanage with the supply wagons from Trost along with Levi squad. She often learned new things about children here, and it seemed like the children, particularly the ones from the underground were very fond of her. A while later, Historia went off to talk to Eren and the others, who were lazing off near the fence, leaving Tiana with two of the children that she was playing with. One thing the children did when they saw Tiana was that they asked her to tell them stories about fighting titans. When the two kids ran towards her as Historia left, she wasn't surprised. "Tiana-san! Tell us a story!" one of them said in an excited voice. Tiana smiled slightly, "Which one do you want to hear about? The one where I killed over thirty titans?" she asked, knowing that this was the most popular story so far. "No. We want to know how things were with you in the underground" the shy looking boy in the duo meekly told her. "Ah. I see." Tiana sighed. They never asked her about her life in the underground but given that they were from down there too, it was natural. "You look sad, Tiana-san... You don't have to tell us..." they tried to back away, seeing Tiana's gloomy face. "It's not that. I just... Hey, did you two know that there was a huge gap in the underground? You could see sunlight there." Tiana said, trying to lighten the environment, which turned out to be successful. "There really was a place like that?" one of the boys asked with a curious place. "Yes. I used to run away from the place I lived in to go see the sunlight there. I was always caught though." Tiana answered. "Tiana-san, how did you feel after coming up here?" the shy boy asked. "Well, I was so happy that it all felt like a dream. Turns out it wasn't a dream" Tiana answered with a smile as she ruffled both the kids hair. "Well, I should be going now. Be good kids okay?" Tiana told them with a smile as they nodded to Tiana with smiling faces. Tiana walked towards Levi squad, who were done taking the supplies in the orphanage, and told them, "It's time to head back. I'll have to get paperworks for the shipment done and I don't have any intention to stay up the night.". Sure, Tiana was on pregnancy leave but that didn't mean she wouldn't do office work. She even managed to train her squad once a week. She mostly advised them how to fight though since moving around too much made her feel nauseous. With a lot of arguments, Tiana was able to convince Erwin to let her attend the night time expeditions to create a pathway to Shiganshina for the first month but after that, as Tiana's morning sickness only got worse, she had to take a pregnancy leave after being forced into it by Erwin and Levi.

Tiana was back in the Survey Corps HQ by evening. She entered the room to find a very stressed out Levi, who was sitting at his table, surrounded by piles of paperwork. Tiana had some delivered to her by someone in her squad. "How did the meeting go?" Tiana asked him. Levi attended an important meeting while Tiana was helping out Historia with supplies. The meeting was supposed to be about ensuring the date of the operation to reclaim wall Maria. After all, the survey corps were as prepared as they can be. Hanji made amazing discoveries. Hanji, single handedly, along with Eren's powers, made the executioner from hell, a guillotine for Titans. She also had plans to make a weapon against the armoured titan, one she said, will be completed in a matter of weeks. "Erwin entrusted me with the titan serum." Levi told in his monotonous voice. "Oh..." Tiana replied softly. She knew what that meant. However, trusting Levi with such a big responsibility was scary for her. That man suffered enough and this would only increase it if he had to make a tough decision. After all, the decision of who gets to live and who gets to die is one that no person should ever have to make.

Both of their paperworks were done in about two hours. Tiana, like always, went and sat on Levi's lap, kissing him as he kissed back. Their daily routine consisted of sex after paperworks. "Are we really going to have normal old sex again?" Tiana sighed as Levi turned his attention to Tiana's neck. "I don't want to hurt the baby" Levi muttered as he continued kissing her neck. "I asked Hanji. She said being a bit rough won't hurt" Tiana answered to that. "Why were you talking to her about our sex life?" Levi looked at her this time, his expression showing irritation. "Well, I want Heichou." Tiana pouted as she started unbuttoning Levi's shirt. "Don't tempt me Tiana. I've been storing my desires for a long time." Levi sighed, as he worked on getting Tiana's shirt off. "What do you wanna do to me, Heichou?" Tiana asked Levi, with a smirk as she helped Levi get her shirt off. "Tie you up and fuck you on my table?" Levi murmured as he attacked Tiana's breast with his mouth. "Please do it to me Heichou. Your slut needs you" Tiana kept on tempting him, using the exact words he taught her to say. At this, Levi looked straight at her eyes and asked, "Does Hanji know what she's talking about?". " I'm certain she does." Tiana whispered before yelping as Levi threw her on his table, using the neckerchief resting on his table to tie her hands before saying, "I'll kill her if this harms the baby" and drowning the room in Tiana's moans and the sound of sex.

A week later

"How far are you? I still have a stack left" Tiana asked Levi. They were sitting at his table, trying to get rid of their stacks of paperworks so that they can get into their daily sexual activities. "Still have two stacks left. You've gotten faster at this" Levi muttered. Tiana just smiled slightly and continued with her work. Suddenly, the door bursted open and Hanji entered the room, again, without knocking. "Hanji, how many times will I have to tell you to knock?" Levi told her, looking at her with his usual stoic expression. "Don't be so fussy, Levi. Oi Tiana, you're the only other smart person around here who can help me out a bit as Erwin is too old to understand technology. Come with me to my office right now!" Hanji exclaimed, looking excited. "I have paperworks" Tiana answered to that in a monotone voice. "Awww come on! Paperworks won't save people!" Hanji whined. "Tiana, get her out of here. She's giving me a headache" Levi remarked, not looking up from the document he was working on. Tiana sighed at that and followed a jumping and excited Hanji out of the room.

4 hours later

"So, it has to be a portable device that can break the armoured Titan's armour. The reports from back when wall Maria fell said that cannons couldn't break the armour and so we need something more portable and faster moving than the average cannon ball, according to your theory." Tiana summed up the case after reading all the reports, multiple books on physics that Hanji threw at her, and several design ideas that failed. At this point, Tiana was wondering why she skipped sex and spent the night brainstorming with Hanji. "Well, yes. The interior police gears have fast moving bullets but those are too small to get any effect on the armour. Its also not possible to give cannon balls that much speed, not with the technology available to us anyway." Hanji muttered, looking at a failed design. "If there was a way to use the weak spots between the armour and use some sort of force to crack the armour like a walnut..." Tiana muttered before she looked like her head was about to explode. "Wait, why does it have to be big or speedy if we can just explode whole chunks of armour off? If we can make oversized bullets with explosives inside them, find a way to shoot them in the weaker points in the armour, the outer hard layer could be blasted off with the force. It just needs a design like some sort of spear so that it could be stuck to the weak spots instead of rolling off like cannon balls." Tiana stated with wide eyes. "Wow. That didn't really cross my mind. However, to shoot them to stick to the weak point and to keep a safe distance, we need to make them somewhat like firecrackers and use some other way to tick the explosive off when its out of the hand" Hanji muttered as she furiously started making a design with all the math. "Glad I could help." Tiana told her as she yawned before she went back to Levi's room.

Tiana was woken by Levi's rapid shaking. "5 more minutes Levi" Tiana muttered, facing away from Levi. "Eren remembered that the man with his father was Keith Shadis. We are going to meet him now. Get up" Levi told her, trying to drag her out of the bed. "I don't give a fuck Levi. Let me sleep." Tiana groaned as she threw a pillow at Levi, which he ducked easily. "Suit yourself" Levi muttered as he got out of the room as Tiana drifted back off to sleep.

When she woke up again, it was almost evening. She walked into Levi's office to find him getting done with some big stacks of paperworks. "So you're up" Levi stated, not looking up from the document he was working on. "Seems like it. What happened at ex commander shadis's place?" Tiana asked with an yawn. "Nothing much. He didn't have much information to give. One thing is certain though. Eren's father was a man from outside the wall. Erwin suspects it. The expedition will take place after 2 days" Levi informed Tiana. "Oh" Tiana quietly answered. Given that the beast titan, the armoured titan and the colossal titan were still at large, this mission was really dangerous. Tiana knew that as long as the colossal titan was there, the wall cannot be sealed. She looked at Levi, watching him sign documents with furrowed eyebrows. "This had to be tough for him, he would have to see more death", Tiana thought.

Tiana POV

I walked towards Levi and sat on his lap. "I'm not done with paperwork yet" he stated the obvious because I usually sat on his lap before sex. "I know. I just want to hold you." I answered, cupping his face with my hands. He still had a frown on his mouth but his expression was calm and gratified. I ran one of my hands through his soft hair, his undercut brushing against my skin. His eyes were showing a lot of emotions. Fear, sorrow, determination, love, it was a mixture of those. "Levi, just come back alive. That's all I ask from you. About the titan serum, I know it's hard to make a choice. You deserve better than this but just don't regret any choice you make." I told him, pressing my forehead against his. "I know. I'll be back for you and him." Levi muttered, placing a hand on my stomach. "It could be a 'her' too you know" I stated with a smile. "I don't care as long as it's healthy." Levi said before kissing me. I kissed back, trying to how him my love for him through it. We broke the kiss after a few moments. "Go eat something. Your mouth smells disgusting" he stated as I got off his lap. I went out to the room to go find some food in the kitchen. The cook was glad to heat up the food that Levi asked them to save for me from lunch. After eating, I decided to make Levi some tea. I walked into the now empty kitchen, as the cook was waiting for me to get my food back then and left when I took it, used a chair to fetch Levi's packet of tea from a cupboard that I otherwise couldn't reach and made some black tea. I poured a cup for him without any sugar and went towards our room. Levi looked at me, his face radiating approval as I set the warm tea infront of him. "I made a good decision" he muttered as he sipped the tea. "Hmm?" I asked him, confused about what decision he was talking about. "The decision of proposing you if you're wondering what decision I'm talking about." he muttered, breaking my confusion. "It's just tea" I told him with a smile. "Well, it's thoughtful of you. How did you get the tin of tea leaves?" Levi asked after giving one of his rare compliments. "I got on a chair" I answered as I sat on a chair infront of Levi. I didn't have any paperworks today, so, I decided to watch Levi work. "I told you not to get on chairs. What if you fell?" Levi asked me in his usual authoritative voice. "Levi, I fought people while I'm pregnant. Its just a chair" I answered to that. He was getting more protective every day and even if it was a nice thing, it was sort of annoying. "I forgot to mention. I've set the wedding date at two weeks after the expedition. Hanji begged me to let her do the planning. The furnitures are almost ready and will be delivered on the day of the expedition. I need you to get the house decorated" Levi mentioned as he sipped the tea. A smile formed on my face as I thought that even in midst of all the tension, there was a good news.

The next day

The expediton was to take place the next day at evening. The whole Survey corps headquarter was quiet the whole day, everyone trying to acknowledge the fact that they could be walking into their deaths the next day. After all, there weren't many veterans left in the survey corps, the 57th expedition and the breaching of wall Rose took a huge toll on the Survey Corps. The night time expeditions weren't enough to give the new recruits the experience to deal with a vital mission like this one. Every time I thought about the 57th expedition, the image of the old squad Levi's deaths seemed to be projected infront of me. Too many lives were lost in vain. I however, didn't regret Petra's death. The day went by without much exception from any other day in the survey corps, just helping Levi with his huge stacks of paperworks, that was until, dinner was served. I knew that meat would be served today as Levi mentioned their deal with the Reeves company to me. "Hanji got Flegel Reeves to get all those brats meat for the night before the expedition. I managed to cut a deal about free tea leaves" he said while we were working our way through the stacks of paperworks. As expected, the whole crowd were fighting over the meat, even after Sasha was tied up. I however, gagged at the smell of it. I still stuffed myself with as much as I can without puking as I probably won't get the chance to eat beef anytime soon, given that its rare and expensive. Way too much expensive. A fight between Jean and Eren broke out a while later, which lasted for a while till Levi got up and kicked them in the stomach, with Jean puking as a result. Knowing very well that the smell would make me puke, I got out of the dining hall as fast as possible. I went to Levi's room, waited for him for a while and went back out to search for him. I found him sitting at a corner of the survey corps headquarter, behind a wall. On the other side of the wall, Armin was talking to Eren and Mikasa about how they would see the so called "ocean". They used to talk about it back in the trainee corps days. Levi looked at me, a mug of alcohol in his hand as I sat beside him. He didn't say anything and we kept listening to the trio, their voices so excited as they talked about their dreams. Levi took a chug from his mug as he got a hand around my waist, pulling me closer. The trio left after a while. "Why didn't you drink back at our room?" I asked him. "I assumed that you would feel left out." he simply answered, finishing off his mug. We sat there silently for a while before Levi spoke up again. "They remind me of Farlan and Isabelle. Farlan was so curious about the world up here while Isabelle just wanted freedom from the confined underground. I just wanted to make sure their dreams came true. Now that they aren't here anymore, I don't even know why I'm still fighting. Probably because Erwin convinced me to follow him. He surely sees something beyond the walls that I can't." Levi sighed before looking at me and asking, "What do you think about this so called 'ocean'? Do you want to see it too?". "I'm not fighting for something like that. I don't care if all there is out of the wall is more barren land. I just want to make sure that I won't loose my family ever again. The titans took my parents from me. I can't loose any more. However, it seems like everyone I care about is risking their lives for the same cause..." I muttered. "Tiana, let's go back. I don't want you to catch a cold" Levi announced before getting up, not looking drunk at all. That man had an amazing alcohol tolerance.

The next day

I woke up late. Levi was already gone. If they didn't feed us that goddamned meat last night, I wouldn't have been puking all day and sleeping like a log due to fatigue. I dressed up as fast as possible, hoping to find the survey corps battalion still rallied up. I ran to the stable, got on my horse and galloped towards the wall of Trost. The battalion wasn't gone yet but they were being carried over the wall by lifts. I hoped that Levi and Uncle Erwin weren't gone yet. I took my horse to a nearby stable, paid a stable boy to look after it and ran towards the ralley. I saw Levi, Uncle Erwin and Hanji waiting for the lift with their squads. I walked towards them and asked Levi, "Why didnt you wake me up?". " You didn't look like you wanted to be waken" he simply answered, receiving a sigh from me. "Anyway, I was here to wish you all good luck." I smiled at them. "Hanji, don't be reckless or die. I need to go shop for a wedding dress with you." I told Hanji as she gave me a small smile. Everyone here were wearing solemn expressions. Levi squad walked towards me before I was able to say anything to Uncle Erwin. "Did you come to see us off?" Connie asked me with a smile. "Yes I did. You guys, don't die." I told them, giving them all a big group hug. "Oi Mikasa, protect them too along with Eren" I told Mikasa as she nodded at me. "We aren't kids Tiana..." Eren started but was cut off by Jean who was saying something about respecting the fact that I care. I slipped away from the group and walked back to Uncle Erwin and Levi. "Uncle Erwin, promise me you'll be back alive. I need you at my wedding" I told Uncle Erwin. He smiled at me as he put on his hand on my shoulder before saying, "I won't miss it for the world". Happy with his answer, I turned to Levi and told him, "Don't die, okay?". " I won't" he replied. "Make sure uncle Erwin comes back" I told him. "I will" he answered as he was called to get on the lift.

[AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, we all know what would happen to Erwin... Well, in respect for him, I'll be writing my second spin off chapter, the one which states of the time Tiana spent in the orphanage after the fall of wall Maria before jumping into Erwin's death. I'm trying to give Tiana some character development before working my way up to new chapters where she will be leading her own squad in future expeditions.]


	23. It keeps happening Again and again

No one's POV

Year 845: The day when wall Maria fell

"Tiana! Thomas! It's time for breakfast!" Gloria shouted from the dining room. Thomas, Tiana's father, was sitting with Tiana in the living room. One of them busy with paperworks and the other with an interesting book borrowed from Erwin. Tiana didn't have training sessions with Erwin for a while, as he was on an expedition. He was supposed to return by now, but, he would be going to Wall Rose directly. Tiana kept her book down and followed her father out of the room to the dining room. "Tiana, I cooked potato pancakes for you. Aren't they your favorite?" Gloria, Tiana's mother told Tiana with a smile. "Thank you" Tiana said softly, with her usual frown etched up on her face. It pained both Gloria and Thomas Hertz that their adoptive daughter, no, they saw Tiana as nothing less than their own child, couldn't show emotions properly. It started after the incident with Jacob, one that they regretted ever since it happened. Only if they had the faintest idea of what that wretched man was doing to their beloved daughter... They consulted doctors from wall Rose to make sure Tiana is back to normal but the doctors only told them to be careful and not let Tiana get hold sharp objects. They assumed Tiana's agression had something to do with her past in the underground, much like her self harming habits. They didn't know, however, that this would only push Tiana away from them. It's true that Tiana couldn't show emotions properly, but, that didn't mean the Hertzs would love her any less. The day passed by normally, and just as Gloria was washing their plates for lunch, with the help of Tiana, there was the sound of a huge explosion. "Gloria, stay with Tiana inside the house. I'll go see what that was" Thomas told the two of them before getting out. They waited for about fifteen minutes before a Garrison soldier knocked at their home. "The wall of Shiganshina is breached! Gloria-san, your husband is helping with the evacuation. We need you to go to the barracks and gear up." the soldier said hastily. "Okay. Cadet Schultz, take Tiana to the evacuation boats. I'll catch up later" Gloria told him calmly. Tiana was witnessing everything. She knew enough about titans. She read about them in the books of Erwin's library. "Mom, I want to go with you" she told Gloria. Gloria looked at Tiana's eyes, surprised that her eyes showed more emotions than she ever saw her express. There was fear, concern, love... "Honey, it's dangerous. I promise I'll be back before you know it with your dad." Gloria smiled as she felt Tiana hug her tightly. She knew that the chances of making through this was low. Very low. "Go now. We will be fine." she told Tiana before sending her off to the boats.

Tiana was sitting on the boat, hugging her legs. There were too many people here and she couldn't see any of her parents. There were no other soldiers here on this boat. "Maybe the soldiers are coming on a different boat?" Tiana thought. When the boat docked in Wall Rose, Tiana saw Erwin Smith standing there on the dockyard. She pushed through the crowd to go to him. When she reached him, she asked, "Are my mom and dad okay? Where are they?". "Tiana, we don't have news about the soldiers fighting there yet. We will know by the next day. Right now, I need you to come with me. You won't be staying with the refugees as it is not safe. I arranged a home for you. You'll get good food, good clothes and a good place to sleep there." Erwin explained with a smile. Tiana held his hand and went to the place he mentioned. It was a government run orphanage. Erwin mentioned that he had to pay money to let them take an extra child at this time. The matron looked like a kind motherly looking woman to Tiana. "Be nice to everyone. Okay? I'll bring news about your parents as soon as I can." Erwin told Tiana with a kind smile before he left. Tiana remembered that something like this happened before.

_"Don't be scared. You are safe now. No one will hurt you again." the blonde man told Tiana as he used a hairpin to unlock her cuffs. Tiana was huddled into a corner, scared that these men will take advantage of her like every other time. "It's okay. Everything will be okay. What's your name dear?" he asked with the same kind smile. "Tiana" Tiana managed to croak out. "Nice to meet you, Tiana. I'm Erwin. Everything is going to be okay." he said, smiling. Everything didn't become okay._

"Was it happening again?" Tiana thought. "No. It can't be happening. They promised me that they will be back" Tiana brushed away the thought.

The next day

It was dawn. Tiana was sleeping on the bed assigned to her. The other children didn't talk to her yet as she spent most of her time in the matron's office. The matron was an amazing woman. She was nice to Tiana, tried to give her as mental support as possible and made food almost as tasty as her mother. "Tiana dear? Wake up. Erwin Smith is here..." the matron called Tiana, her face concerned. The whole orphanage was quiet, none of the other children were awake yet. Tiana walked towards the matron's office with the matron, a walk that seemed to go on for eternity. When she reached, Tiana saw Erwin sitting there, looking tired. "Tiana..." he started but Tiana interjected by saying, "They are dead, aren't they?". There was no visible emotions in Tiana's eyes. After all, she felt dead. Just her body was still functioning. It happened again. "Yes. Your parents died heroically, saving many citizens with their lives" Erwin told her, trying to make her proud. "They broke their promise. They left me too. They are no different from other people. They are just as bad as everyone else." Tiana stated, as if she was in a daze. "Tiana, I'm sorry.." Erwin tried to say but Tiana stopped him. "It's not your fault, uncle Erwin. It's them." she told him, before walking to the bathroom. "I need something sharp..." she thought as she searched the bathroom for a blade.

A week later

The matron introduced Tiana to the other children as she decided that Tiana couldn't curl up in her office with a book forever. After all, Tiana was a permanent resident. There were twenty other children in the small orphanage. Tiana ofcourse, didn't give any heed to their names at first because, ofcourse, it was all pointless. What was the point of being alive anyway? What did she have left? Except her uncle Erwin? She was sure that he was strong enough to deal with her death anyway. He was the one who made her as strong as she is now. It's because of him, she's still fighting. After the matron went away, telling Tiana to talk to the other kids, Tiana simply went to a corner of the room and start reading the book in her hand. It was the books and the agony in her body from the cuts she made on herself that kept her mind at bay from the death of her parents. She, ofcourse, stole bandages from the matron's office to keep the bleeding at bay so that she wouldn't die. The cuts weren't too deep, just deep enough to sting for a whole day and heal up. She just had to make more cuts after it healed up. "Oi brat, you think a newbie like you can just sit and read shit without working?" a young boy, much bigger than Tiana walked towards her, with another girl and a boy with him, all of them bigger than her. Tiana merely looked up from the book with a vacant expression. "Don't give me this look, you shit! Go do the dishes!" he shouted. "Isn't the matron supposed to assign chores? I remember doing mine this morning." Tiana answered to him calmly. "Listen, newbie, we make the rules here. Go do the dishes!" the leader of the group tried to speak in a menacing voice. "I refuse to do it unless the matron asks me to" Tiana simply answered but just as she did, the boy took the book from her hand and tore it in half. "You two, get her" he ordered the other two kids who started kicking Tiana. Tiana couldv'e easily beaten them up but she remembered the advice from Erwin. _"Be nice to everyone"_ he said. Tiana didn't flinch even when they hit her in the areas with cuts, she was accustomed to pain. After all, she always had these habits and also went through training with Erwin.

These went on for a week. When those kids, Sean (the leader), Lena (the girl) and Paul (the other boy) found out that Tiana doesn't react to beatings, they started picking up on her in different ways. One day, they poured horse shit in her drawer full of clothes. The other day, they burnt all her books. Tiana still didn't move from her decision to do their chores for them. After a week, Erwin came to visit. Erwin decided to visit Tiana every week, to brush up on her training. Her training was complete before the fall of wall Maria, but, he still decided to spar with her sometimes, so that she wouldn't loose her practice. Erwin also was fond of the small girl, almost as if she was his own daughter. It's true, Pixis asked him to train her in the first place and also got Tiana the place in the orphanage using his power in Trost, however, as Erwin trained her, he realized that she was going to be a deadly weapon if she ever joined the military, or the survey corps. Erwin, however, wasn't keen on her joining the survey corps due to the mortality rate. He didn't want Tiana to die as she was almost like the daughter he never had. Erwin was a ruthless person but, Tiana seemed to be one of the very few soft spots he had. As he sat in the matron's office, he saw a calm but angry looking Tiana enter the room. He figured something was wrong. "Tiana, is everything okay?" was his first question to her.

"I don't like this place." Tiana simply replied. "Why is it? Did someone bother you?" Erwin asked, concerned. Tiana explained everything that happened in the past week to Erwin. "Why didn't you fight back then?" Erwin asked, quiet surprised that Tiana took a few beatings. Tiana wasn't the type of person who would take beatings without counterattacking. Atleast that was how it was during training. "You told me to be nice to everyone" Tiana grumbled. "Well, did you complain to the matron?" Erwin asked. "I did. She scolded them but that only increased the problem" Tiana explained. "I see. Well, I know I told you to be nice to everyone but that doesn't mean you won't use self defence when required." Erwin advised. "So, I can beat them up?" Tiana asked, with an evil glint in her eyes. "Yes but stay in your limits. Don't make any permanent injury." Erwin said cautiously. Tiana was still a kid and kids couldn't be trusted much when they are angry. "Oh don't worry. I'll just scare them a bit." Tiana answered with a sly smile that worried Erwin even more. With that, they went to a nearby field to brush up on the training by sparring.

That night, Tiana sneaked into the matron's office to find a stack of newspapers. She saw the stack in the matron's shelf before when she took a book from there when she first arrived. After searching for a while, she found the newspaper she was looking for, the one from 6 years back. The one with the news of the murder of Jacob. After taking the newspaper, Tiana sneaked into the kitchen to get a knife.

She walked into the boy's dormitory to find Sean sleeping on his bed. "Oi, Sean" Tiana called out. "Huh? What?" Sean got up, still sleepy. "What the hell are you doing here. Are you really itching to get beaten?" he growled after seeing it was Tiana who called him. "I don't intend to have a single scratch by you on my body, Sean. However, I can't say the same for you" Tiana answered, putting in a psychotic smile on her face as she brought her knife out in the open as it glinted in the moonlight coming from the window in the room. The whole room of boys were awake now. Tiana suddenly threw the knife backwards, which stuck to a bed post along with the fabric of the night shirt of Paul near his hand, thus keeping his hand in place. Paul was white with fear as it happened and Tiana simply said, "Paul, don't try to move or come at me with the knife. It's going to get in your stomach in that case". She then threw the Newspaper at the now intimidated Sean's face before saying, " Read the headline.". The whole room of boys were watching, scared by Tiana's sudden change in demeanour.** "8 year old brutally kills soldier".** Sean read before pausing. **"Tiana Hertz, an 8 year old child from the Shiganshina district, killed Jacob Meyer, a garrison soldier from Thomas Hertz, Tiana Hertz's adoptive father's squad. Jacob's eyes were gauged out and throat was slit and his head was almost severed by what seemed like atleast 20 stabs. About Tiana Hertz's past, all that is known is that she was rescued from a whorehouse in the upper class pleasure district in the underground..."** Sean continued but his voice faded. Tiana's picture was drawn on the newspaper. They had no idea who they were messing with. "Well, that's enough. Now answer me, who else wants to end up like that piece of garbage?" Tiana asked in a cold voice. No one answered. "That's a good choice. Now," Tiana started as she moved towards Paul and pulled the knife out of the bedpost, "all of you, don't mention that I was here tonight. And yes, no one will be listening to these two worthless garbage here anymore or their so called friend. No one will do one extra work than what's assigned to them by the matron. Am I clear?" Tiana finished. Some kids were crying as they were intimidated but all of them nodded or muttered yes. "Good. Oh, and, don't bother me when I'm reading. Just leave me alone okay?" Tiana told before leaving the room with the newspaper and the knife so that she can keep those in place again without anyone realising.

Year 847:

It had been two years since Tiana started living in the orphanage. After that day, no one messed with Tiana again, and, no one listened to those three bullies ever again either. However, every good thing always came to an end. "Commander Smith, Tiana is already 16 years old. She's an adult now and we usually look for a groom for anyone who is of age in our orphanage. If you gave me the permission, I would've looked for someone suitable" the matron told Erwin. Erwin was called to the orphanage after Tiana's so called 16th birthday according to her birth certificate. "Well, I suppose? I just didn't think that she will get married so soon..." Erwin started but Tiana, who was also sitting in the room and listening to the conversation, stopped him and said, "Exactly. I am not getting married so soon.". "But Tiana, you're of age and it's against orphanage policies..." the matron started but was interrupted by Tiana as she said, "I understand that. I'm joining the military.". "Tiana, you are not joining the military." Erwin simply answered. "Why not? Am I not of age? Am I not allowed to make decisions now? If I'm old enough to get married, why am I not allowed to join the military?" Tiana asked casually. "Tiana, it's dangerous unless if you join the military police." Erwin sighed. He knew where it was going. "You really think I will join the military police, Uncle Erwin? I'm joining the Survey Corps. I'll kill those bastards who took my parents away from me." Tiana said as the matron shouted, "Language Tiana!". " Very well. I have to ask you though, Tiana. Could you die if you're asked to?" Erwin asked Tiana. "Depends on why you are asking me to die. If the reason is valid enough, then I am ready." Tiana answered. "Well, Tiana, on missions, I can't look out after you. I might have to send you to your death if required because on expeditions, I'm your commander, not your uncle." Erwin told Tiana coldly. "I understand." Tiana answered. She enlisted to the 104th trainee corps the next day. "I won't let myself be hurt again" she thought as she wore her uniform, leaving the orphanage for good. The Tiana from eight years back didn't know that it will keep happening again (Jacob) and again (death of parents) and again (death of squad Levi) and... Again...


	24. And again

Hanji POV

I was giving a pep talk to my squad when I saw Tiana talking to Levi. We were about to leave the walls in a few moments. For a second, I think I saw shorty with a warm expression. It was surprising really, given that he always looked like a "constipated brat" in his own words. What was more surprising was that he found himself someone shorter than he is. When we were called to the lift, I saw Tiana and Levi giving eachother some really intense looks and talking about something. God knows what these two were talking about given that their looks could make new recruits piss their pants. Levi walked away from her when the lift arrived and stood beside me on the lift. I saw Tiana move slightly to stand with the crowd. "Yo shorty, what were all those intense looks about?" I nudged Levi to which he answered, "Shut it shitty glasses". I smiled at his usual behaviour. Seems like even love can't change some things. I sighed at the thought. Moblet and I weren't able to go on a date because of how busy I was with my experiments. I need to make it up to him after the expedition if both of us come back alive. As the lift creaked up, someone shouted from the crowd, " HEY HANJI!". I looked down and saw, "Flegel?" I muttered, curious that he was shouting my name out. "TAKE BACK WALL MARIA! THE FUTURE OF MANKIND IS IN YOUR HAAAANDS!" he shouted. Following his lead, many others shouted out encouragements. Some thanked Levi for saving the town and to that Levi muttered, "Someone's got a big mouth". " Well, with the commotion we made, ofcourse they'd find out." I muttered, answering Levi. The replacement for Mike said, "The thing is, all the meat we ordered was from the Reeves company." The replacement for Squad leader Ness merely said, "Damn that Flegel". Suddenly, I heard people beside us shouting "YEAH YOU CAN COUNT ON US!". I turned and saw Levi squad shouting out to the people. Other soldiers were muttering about how the Survey corps never had a send off like this before. Erwin replied to them by saying, "As far as I'm aware, this is a first" before starting to shout himself. Both Levi and I looked at him surprised. I looked down at the crowd to see Tiana gaping at the sight too. After all, this was completely unexpected for someone as calm as Erwin.

Tiana POV

It was surprising to see Uncle Erwin so excited about an expedition. Specially, one that could cause many casualties. The Survey Corps were gone after a while and the crowd dispersed. I went back to the Survey corps Headquarters to get my squad to help me recieve all the furnitures and make my home liveable. "I have a home now..." I thought gleefully. I finally was able to find happiness. I took my horse back from the stable and galloped towards the headquarter.

When I opened the door to the common room, I saw my squad complaining about not being able to join the expedition.

[Tiana Squad/ Special operations squad 2:

Tiana squad was supposed to be one of the four commanding squads beside Levi squad, Hanji squad and Drik squad but due to her pregnancy leave, Marlene squad was a temporary replacement for her.

Members:

Diana Becker: A graduate from 103 trainee corps. Very good at communicating with other soldiers and after being trained by Tiana, 3DMG techniques are improving. Appointed as Tiana's second in command.

Heinrich Fischer: A transfer from Garrison from 103 trainee corps. Area of specialty is medic. Good at 3DMG and getting better with Tiana's training. Excellent at hand to hand combat according to Tiana as he was the only person who knew the right strategy to use on Tiana, losing nonetheless. Not too good in social skills

Stefan Wagner:A graduate from 103 trainee corps. Area of specialty is Veterinarian. Good at 3DMG and improving. Good at social skills and will implement any command given as flawlessly as possible.

Marie Schwarz: A military police transfer from 103 trainee corps. Area of specialty is dealing with finance. A serious soldier who is good at almost all sectors except hand to hand combat due to a lacking in understanding of the enemy's moves but that could be improved by team activities. However, it seems like she had difficulty with authority, specially Tiana's.]

"Damn it... This was one important expedition and we couldn't join... They will all be awarded as heroes when they return and we will only be watching.." Heinrich complained to the other bored soldiers as I walked in. They were all seniors in case of Trainee corp records but younger than myself by a few years given that I joined a bit late. "Heinrich, if you are so keen on being Titan fodder, go ahead, take your horse and follow them. They haven't gone too far yet." I told him, shutting him up. "Sorry, squad leader Tiana. He was just being an ass" Diana muttered, smacking Heinrich on his head. They probably were in a relationship or something, given that I walked onto them kissing one time. I pretended I didn't see it though. "Well, be thankful that you aren't fighting Titans with your lives in your hands and instead you're helping me with decorating my home. I want you all at my home in 30 minutes. I'll be going to the furniture store and getting the furnitures." I ordered them as they answered with a "hai!" before I left for the furniture store. It was already getting dark. I took my horse there, paid the furniture makers, rented a wagon and with the help of the furniture maker's apprentice, took all the furnitures home. The squad was already home and with their help, I started arranging the house.

"Diana, go arrange the kitchen utensils. Stefan and Heinrich, move that shelf away from the window." I commanded. Most of the house was already decorated. I just needed to get the bedsheets arranged, bring all of Levi's and my own books from the headquarters, except ofcourse, the work related ones. "Marie, we are going to get the books" I commanded her and we went to the headquarter.

It took a while to arrange all the books as I did that by dividing the books by genres. After the whole decoration process was done, I thanked the squad and dismissed them. It was about 10 pm when I started cleaning the house. After an hour of cleaning, I felt like the house was clean enough for Levi's standards and I locked the front gate and went back to the headquarter. We weren't supposed to be living in this house till we get married. I was tired beyond measures after all the work and decided to pass out on the bed.

A few hours later

Levi POV

"Looks like the beast titan has us in it's sights. This place is about to turn into a honeycomb. Erwin, if you tell me there's no way left for us to fight back, I'll start preparing for defeat." I told Erwin. This operation was meaningless. Ofcourse there was no chance of victory after this. If we had to get some survivors... I would have to give up my life... Would Tiana be okay with it? I'm sure she would be devastated... But I had to do this. For humanity and for a good future of my child... Can Tiana raise him on her own? "It could be a she too you know" Tiana's voice rang in my head. She always pointed that out whenever I called our child a 'he'. "Eren's sprawled out there, right? Go wake him up. You and some of the others get on him and run. That way we'll have atleast a few survivors." I continued. I remembered the last time I slept with her. She looks so peaceful when she sleeps... "The recruits and survivors from Hanji's squad can scatter on horses all at once and try to head home... How does that sound? With them acting as bait, you and the others on Eren will be able to escape." I concluded. I remember her snuggling into my arms, burying her head in my chest... "And what are you going to do, Levi?" Erwin asked me. Was that really the last time I saw her? And I really made a shitty promise that I couldn't keep that time? "I'll deal with that beast. I'll lead him away" I answered. Am I really ready to choose humanity over her? Over our kid? "No. You can't even get close to him." Erwin stated. I remembered her rare smiles. I imagined a future where she and my kid will be safe. If this sacrifice is worth it, I can do this. "Probably not. But, if you and Eren make it back alive, there's still hope. Isn't that the kind of situation we're in now? This is a major defeat. Honestly, I'm not expecting anyone to make it home alive at this point." I replied. "True. If we don't have any way of fighting back." Erwin stated calmly. I was surprised. Did he have anything up his sleeve? "Do you have one?" I asked him, genuinely surprised. "Yes" he stated. At this point, I was annoyed at him. What was he thinking? Why didn't he say this to me before? "Why didn't you tell me earlier? Why didn't you put that ugly mouth of yours to work sooner and say something?" I asked, genuinely annoyed. "If this plan goes well, you may be able to defeat that beast. But only if we sacrifice the lives of all the recruits here, as well as mine." Erwin mentioned. Sacrificing Erwin? Didn't I promise Tiana that I'll keep him safe? If he makes a decision like this, how can I face Tiana again? "You're absolutely right. No matter what we do, most of us will surely die. Infact, it's most likely that we will all be wiped out. So our only choice is to assume we are all expendable and work from there. We'd have to ask these young people to give up their lives. You'd need the skills of a first rate con man to come up with a reason that convincing. So I doubt any of them will charge forward unless I was leading the way. Which would mean I'd be the very first to die. Without ever learning what was in that basement." Erwin said. "Huh?" I asked, confused. This man was about to die and all he cared about was a shitty basement? He sighed and said, "I just want to go to that basement. Everything I have done, I did thinking that this day would come. That someday, I would be able to check my answers. There were so many times that I thought it would be easier to just die. Then, the dream I shared with my father would flash through my head. And now those answers are close enough to reach out and grab... They are right here... But, Levi, can you see them? All of our comrades? Our comrades are watching us. They want to know what we will do with the hearts they dedicated to our cause. Because they may be gone but their fight isn't over. But then again, I promised Tiana that I will be with her at her wedding... She doesn't deserve to lose more... I broke enough promises to her before. Will the last thing I told her be a promise that I couldn't keep? Or is it all pointless and nothing more than my own childish delusion?". I looked at Erwin for a while, my mind full of doubt. He was implying that I have to make the decision. This was much worse. Tiana would never forgive me. She will despise me. I might lose the only chance I ever had of having a family. Then again, didn't I decide that sacrificing my life for the safety of Tiana and our child was worth it? Why should this be any different? If wall Maria is captured, humanity will be much closer to victory. Tiana and our child will be safer. I'd rather have Tiana hate me than get her killed because I was weak. I knelt down infront of Erwin and told him, "You've fought a good fight. We have only come this far thanks to you. I'm making the choice. Give up on your dreams and die for us. Lead the recruits straight into hell. And I'll take down the beast titan.". To that he smiled slightly at me. "Keep Tiana safe. You two have my blessings." he said, startling me before he explained the plan to me.

"You want me to approach the beast by myself using vertical maneuvering? There's nothing around him! There isn't a single tree or house or anything else I can use!" I asked Erwin, not understanding what he was talking about. "No... You have targets that are the perfect height. They are standing there all in a row aren't they? Use the titans to sneak up on and ambush the beast titan." Erwin explained.

I stood beside him as he convinced all the soldiers to give up their lives. Deep down, I knew it was all my decision. I felt revolted by myself. Does a person like me even deserve the happiness and stability of a family? When I can decide to send so many people to their deaths, bringing tragedy to so many other families... "No. I won't regret my decision now. It is all for the greater good" I convinced myself as I stood, watching the faces of people who knew they were about to die meaningless deaths.

The plan was put into action. I maneuvered towards the beast titan, killing it's titan army in progress. I saw the suicide charge down there. "I'm sorry" I told them in my mind as I slashed the napes of titans.

"Turning into titan puts a heavy strain on your body... So you can't transform again while you're busy healing. Isn't that right?" I asked the blonde man who I had cut out of the beast titan and stuffed my blade in his mouth. I pushed the blade forward, making it come out of an eye socket through his mouth before saying, "Hey, answer me. Don't you have any manners?". "I can't kill him. Not yet. Isn't there anyone still alive? It doesn't matter how injured they are as long as they are breathing... I can use this shot to turn them into a titan... Then I can have them eat this guy and steal the power of the beast titan. Isn't there anyone?" I thought. An image of Erwin passed through my mind. "Isn't there someone I can bring back-" my thoughts were interrupted by the cart titan's mouth. I assumed that it tried to eat me but I moved away and saw it taking the beast titan and run away. "Hey! Where are you going? Stop. I'm not done with you yet..." I said, my voice sounding like a defeated person. Did I just lose to him at the last moment? The beast titan commanded the remaining titans to come at me. "Wait... I swore to him... That I'd kill you no matter what." I muttered. Anger surged into me as I continued, "I SWORE TO HIM!" as I changed my blades and charged towards the titans coming at me, slashing their napes off as fast as possible so that I could follow the beast and end him.

I flew to the wall as fast as possible to find the beast titan infront of Eren. Eren had his blade to the throat of a limbless figure, possibly the colossal titan. The beast titan saw me and started running again as I flew towards Eren. My gas finished off just as I reached Eren. "That was the last bit of gas I had. I'm going after him. Give me all your gas and blades. Hurry!" I commanded Eren just before a black figure behind him coughed faintly.

The black figure was Armin. Eren was going insane after figuring out that Armin was alive. He shouted at me excitedly to give the titan serum to Armin. A certain gut feeling made me hesitate. What if Erwin isn't dead? I was handing the serum out to Eren when Floch arrived with Erwin on his back. He said that Erwin is alive and gravely injured. I took the serum back, sure that I will inject it to Erwin. "Captain?" Eren asked, surprised and scared. I checked Erwin's nose with my hand. "He's still breathing. He's still alive...". I can keep Tiana's promise... "We're giving this injection to Erwin" I stated. Eren suddenly stood up, facing me. "You just said you'd use it on Armin.." he told me, tears streaming from his eyes. "I'm choosing to keep alive the man who will save humanity" I replied to Eren. Behind me, Mikasa got her blade out. "You guys, do you have the faintest damn clue on what you're doing? We are talking about Erwin Smith. The commander of the Survey corps. You're telling me to sit here and let him die? There's no time. Get out of my way." I told them before Eren held the box of titan serum in my hands. "Eren, look past your feelings." I told him. "My feelings? Why did you hesitate before handing over the injection?" Eren asked me. Wasn't it obvious? I was trying to keep a promise that I made. I just had to take the chance... "I was considering the possibility that Erwin was alive." I answered. "I don't see how you ever could ever have predicted that Floch would bring the dying commander." Eren stated. "You're right. But now that Erwin is here, we're using it on him." I told him my final decision. To my surprise, he still tugged on to the box and I had no choice other than punching him on his face, and sending him flying. Mikasa ran at me with her sword and jumped on me with her blade on my throat. Why couldn't I fight her? I was always stronger than her, but, was it guilt that made me feel this way? The fact that I probably was being selfish? That I wanted Erwin alive more for personal reasons than just the fate of humanity?

Hanji pulled Mikasa off me. She explained to her that everyone lost people dear to them today. She lost Moblet, how she regretted not going out with him even once, how she wished to bring him back too along with many other comrades. I was up on my foot now, kneeling infront of Erwin with the injection out. Suddenly, I felt someone grab my feet. "Heichou, have you heard of the ocean?" he said. He told me how much Armin wanted to see it. Floch tried to stop him but he said it anyway. I realised that he wasn't any different from me. He wanted his best friend back. I wanted Tiana's happiness. I didn't have any right to choose who is to live and who is to die but at that moment, I was forced to make a choice. I chose to give in to my personal gain. "Troops, clear the area! Erwin will turn into a titan and eat Berthold!" I commanded. "Fools, all of them... Like little kids... The way they scream and flail..." I muttered as I walked towards Erwin with Berthold. Suddenly, flashes of my conversation with Kenny came to my mind. "They couldn't keep going unless they were drunk on something..." he told me. I folded Erwin's jacket upto his elbow. I brought the injection towards his hand. "They were all slaves to something. Even him", Kenny's voice rang in my ear just as Erwin's hand shot up. " Teacher... How'd y... find out that they don't exist?" Erwin muttered. Realisation flowed through my mind. Someone as self obsessed as Kenny decided to die when he achieved his dreams. I remembered the conversation I had with Erwin before the expedition. The one where he said that he didn't have much plans for after he finds out what was in the basement. The conversation from before the suicide march rang in my head. "There were so many times that I thought it would be easier to just die." I remembered Erwin saying that. Erwin was able to work his wonders only because of his curiosity on what was in the basement. If he found out what was in the basement, he won't have any reason to fight anymore. Sure, he loved Tiana but that had nothing to do with this fight. He already gave the responsibility of Tiana's safety to me before the suicide march. Even if Erwin lived, he wouldn't be able to contribute much to humanity's victory anymore. Armin on the other hand, still has a dream that was far from being achieved. "I need to keep Tiana and my child safe. No matter what." I thought. Erwin's death was crucial for humanity's victory. With that thought, I injected Armin with the titan serum.


	25. Broken Promises

No one's POV

"Squad leader Tiana! The scouts are back! They retook wall Maria!", Tiana was woken by Diana's excited yelling. She barged into Levi's room, mud all over her shoes. Tiana woke up with a jolt and noticed it. "Levi will be pissed..." she thought but she didn't say anything to Diana. This wasn't the time for it. She knew that she had to see if Levi and Erwin returned safely or not. "Diana, saddle my horse. Fast" Tiana commanded Diana as she went to the bathroom to change out of her nightgown. She didn't take long to change and when she was done, she immediately ran for the stable, her heart fluttering with joy. They are back. They are successful. They are one step ahead for humanity's victory. When Tiana reached the stable, Diana was done saddling the horse and Tiana immediately got on it and galloped for the walls. The fluttering feeling in her heart turned into an uncomfortable clench when she reached the wall. An elevator with nine people was coming down. An elevator can hold about twenty people. "Was that all the people who survived?" she thought, the uncomfortable feeling in her stomach increasing. The lift seemed to come down for eternity. "Are they dead?" Tiana's mind whispered to herself. She had no idea what she would do without Levi. Without Erwin, her only family left. When the lift came down finally, Tiana felt like her heart stopped. At the front was Hanji, her eye bandaged. Behind her was Levi. Tiana's eyes widened at the sight. "No... This isn't happening..." her mind shouted. Levi noticed her on her horse and bowed his head. "He didn't protect Erwin..." Tiana's mind whispered at her. Out of instinct, Tiana turned her horse and galloped towards the Survey corps headquarter, not stopping even when Levi shouted, "Tiana! Wait!" loudly.

Tiana went straight into Levi's office. She needed to know how Erwin died. She needed to know if Levi tried his best to save him. After what seemed like a lifetime later, Levi entered his office to find Tiana sitting on one of the chairs infront of his desk. "How did it happen?" Tiana asked him in a quiet voice. Her face scared Levi. It was what he saw the day he first met Tiana. Emotionless and cold. There were no tears in Tiana's eyes. She almost looked like she was tired, like she was bored. Levi didn't know how to explain everything to her. He was never too good at explaining anyway. With a sigh, he said, "Both Erwin and Armin were seriously injured. I had to use the titan serum on one of them and I decided that it was time for Erwin to rest.". "So, you killed him..." Tiana stated, her voice showing...nothing. No anger, no regret, no sadness. Her voice was like of a dead person, void of any human emotion. "Tiana, I had good reason to..." Levi tried to explain but Tiana held her hand up, signalling him to stop. "I don't want to hear anything you have to say." she said before walking towards the door. "Don't try to follow me. I don't want to see your face again." she told him, not bothering to look at him before walking out of the office.

Tiana felt numb. Memories of Erwin and Levi making promises shot through her mind. "How many times will I lose everything dear to me?" she thought. To her, life seemed more meaningless than ever. She walked towards her office. Yes, she had her own office but she prefered to work with Levi. She felt lonely doing all the work alone. Ironically, lonelyness was all she had now. She took a pen and paper and wrote a letter.

"Ms Hanji Zoe

Commander

Survey corps

Subject:Resignation letter

Dear Hanji,

Please accept this letter as my formal resignation from the position as squad leader of the Survey corps, effective from whenever you get the letter.

I appreciate the opportunity of growth and development you have provided me.

Sincerely,

Tiana Hertz"

This was it. She knew she had to run from this life. Being in the Survey corps meant she had to witness the death of loved ones again. She had to face Levi again. Tiana walked towards Erwin's office. "I will never see him sitting in there again" her mind whispered to her. She opened the door to find an empty room. "Hanji didn't move in yet.." she assumed. Memories of when she was chosen as squad leader, when she asked him to walk the aisle with her on her wedding passed her mind. The wedding would never happen now. She remembered the ring in her finger. "Should I leave it with the letter?" she thought, not being able to make up her mind. At the end she decided to keep it. As a symbol of her old memories of a Levi she knew she loved. Tiana placed the letter on the desk and went out of the office, out of the headquarters. She didn't take her horse or her possessions, she didn't have the time to. She walked towards the place where she made the decision of joining the Survey corps. To the orphanage.

Tiana POV

I knocked on the door of the orphanage and the matron opened the door. Seemed like the news of Uncle Erwin's death spreaded like wild fire since the first thing the matron did was hug me and say, "Oh Tiana dear! I'm so sorry...". "Ms Winkler (the matron's name), can I stay here for a few days? Till I get my own house?" I asked her calmly. "Your own house? Aren't you getting married soon?" she asked me, confused. "I'm afraid the wedding won't take place. After what he did..." I sighed. "My dear, I don't know what the captain did but you rejecting him means it must be something horrid. You're welcome to stay here for as long as you want. I'm getting old, so a bit of help is always welcomed." Ms Winkler smiled as she took me in.

Ms Winkler showed me my room a while back. I sat on the bed, trying to remain calm but I felt restless. The depth of the situation was finally hitting me. Uncle Erwin is dead. I left Levi. I left the Survey corps. I have absolutely nothing left to live for. I felt emotionally unstable. I felt all energy from my body being drained. "I can't take this anymore. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts..." my mind was screaming. I walked to the bathroom. Conveniently, there was a blade there. I had to cut myself. Drown my sorrows by causing external pain. Just before the blade touched my skin, I remembered that I wasn't alone. I still had my child. "I'm sorry honey... I completely forgot about you... I'm so sorry I almost hurted you..." I whispered to my stomach, which bulged a bit now. I caressed it a bit as I sat on the bathroom floor, whispering sorrys as tears streamed down my face. I have to take on all the pain the world throws at me. I have to make sure my child gets a happy life.

A week later

"Tiana, you need to eat properly... You're eating like a mouse, dear... Both the baby and you needs the food..." Ms Winkler tried to convince me to eat. I honestly tried my best to eat as much as I can but I had no appetite. After the happenings of last week, nothing felt good. I slept for two days, eating a few bites of bread whenever Ms Winkler got it to me. She was worried about my and my child's health and even if I was grateful that she was making the effort, I just couldn't eat. My sleep schedule was all over the place too as my nightmares came back. It's been a while since I've been having nightmares every night. Being with Levi helped but now... There's nothing I could do about it. I've been helping Ms Winkler with her household duties, looking after the other kids, and keeping myself as busy as possible to forget the events of last week. Hanji didn't send me an approval of the resignation letter yet and I thought about going to the Survey corps headquarter to make sure if she got the letter or not but later decided against it as there was a chance of running into Levi there. I still didn't know why he decided to let Erwin die but I decided that it's best if I don't know as the truth on it might only be more hurtful. I rented a house last day too, where I was supposed to move in to next week. The owner, a lovely old lady, was really understanding of my situation. I was peeling some potatoes in the kitchen when Ms Winkler came into the kitchen and told me, "Tiana, someone is here to see you."

Levi POV

It had been a week since Tiana left. I understood why she did it. What I did was unforgivable. However, I couldn't keep any regrets, right? My sleep schedule had been shit for the last week, the insomnia returned, as well as the nightmares. All I did everyday was bury myself with paperworks, clean any place with a speck of dirt and drink to some extent at night. My good alcohol tolerance didn't help at all. Atleast that kept my mind off things... Apparantly everyone was surprised when I cleaned the stable by myself two days back. I couldn't blame them because I made cadets do things like that since I became a squad leader. I was working on paperworks when Hanji entered the room. "What do you want shitty glasses" I asked in a stoic expression, not looking up from the paperworks. "Oi, I'm the commander now. Atleast give some respect..." Hanji teased, trying to make me talk. She had been doing these for a while as I haven't talked to anyone much since last week. There just was too much on my mind and the amount of paperworks was intense. "It's been a week since she gave that resignation letter. What are you planning to do about it?" Hanji asked me. Yes, she wanted to leave the Survey corps. Because of me. It was all over wasn't it? "Aren't you in charge of writing the approval letter?" I asked, restricting any emotions in my voice. "Levi, stop acting like you dont feel anything. Before her commander, I'm her friend and I know that you want her to be happy as much as I do. You need to go and explain why you made that shitty decision. Atleast try to get her back." Hanji told me, her voice sounding angry. "I tried to tell her. She didn't want to listen" I answered. Hanji looked at me like I am horse shit. "You went up to her and told her that you made the decision to kill Erwin. It's obvious that she wouldn't want to listen to you. And you stopped trying because of that one time? I honestly had better expectations from you, Levi." she told me, getting angrier. "What am I supposed to tell her? That I don't regret making that decision? You think she will like hearing that?" I asked Hanji, frustrated. She was right, I should've tried harder, but, how? "But you do regret it don't you? Even if it probably was necessary according to you?" Hanji asked, in a soft tone. "I'm not supposed to regret it... Erwin said.." I was interjected by Hanji, who simply said, "Erwin regretted not being able to see what's in the basement, didn't he? Thus you had to make the decision for him and he had to die. Sure, the downfall was big but it caused one of our biggest victories didn't it? We know so much now... I suppose, regretting might give some good results too, doesn't it?" she explained. I was silent. She was right. I regretted my decision. However, it had to be done. I had to explain everything to Tiana and leave the decision to her. "Levi, let's not delay things more. I got news that Tiana is staying at an orphanage nearby. Let's go together and convince her to talk to you. As a friend, I want her happy and as a commander, she is a huge asset to the survey corps, given that now we only have 9 survivors from the last mission. I'll tell someone to saddle our horses." she told be before getting up and going out of my room. I didn't feel as nervous as I feel now when I proposed Tiana...

It took a while for me to arrange all the paperwork I was working on into neat piles before going to the stable. Hanji was already there, on her horse. Diana, Tiana's second in command was standing there. She probably was the one to saddle the horses. "Commander Hanji, when will squad leader Tiana return from vacation?" I heard her asking Hanji. Yes, the survey corps members and other higher ups were told that Tiana was on vacation as she needed some time alone due to Erwin's death, and not to talk about it to the press. The only people who knew about the resignation letter were myself and Hanji. "Well, we are going to talk to her about that now." Hanji smiled at Diana, who saluted me as I arrived near them. I motioned her to be at ease as I got on my horse. With that, we galloped towards the orphanage she was in.

We reached there in a few minutes as it was pretty close. "I'll go inside and talk to Tiana first. I'll call you when I have convinced her to talk to you. I have a feeling that she will refuse to talk to you at first." Hanji explained. I nodded as a reply. It was depressing to think that Tiana would refuse to talk to me. I got down from my horse to find a few kids staring at me and the horses. "Oi brats, you know where the stable is?" I asked them. One of them, possibly the leader, a small brunette kid, walked up to me and said, "I'd tell you if you were nice to me." with a pout. "Listen, brat, I am being nice. I'm not in much of a good mood now, so don't give me this bullshit. Where's the stable?" I asked the kid in my monotoned voice. "Mhhm, I won't tell you unless you're nice." she pouted. "Kid, don't expect every single stranger to sweet talk to you." I sighed. Kids were annoying. "Well, Ms Hertz was a stranger. She was nice to us." the girl told me. "She was? Well, Ms Hertz is a nice person. I on the other hand am a piece of shit who made her sad." I sighed, my expression showing some sadness even if I tried to hide it. The girl looked at me for a moment before saying, "The stable is in the backyard. Follow me.". I followed the girl, the group of kids followed me. "You're captain Levi right?" the girl asked. "Yes. I am." I answered, as I walked with the horses. "How did you make Ms Hertz sad?" she asked me. "Well, as you know, the commander of the survey corps is dead right? I had a lot of things to do with it. The commander was Ms Hertz's uncle and... You know how that works." I explained. "So you're here to talk to her?" the girl asked. "Yeah" I answered as I got the horses in the stable. "You know, she won't be happy if you keep using your potty mouth. If you're nice to her, she will listen." the girl advised. I was surprised that a 10 year old was advising me about how I should talk to Tiana. However, she wasn't entirely wrong. I only had a chance if I calmly explained everything one by one. "You're right, kid." I answered as I closed the stable door. "Oi, what's your name?" I asked the girl. "Stella." she answered as Hanji came out. "I figured you'd be near the stable. Tiana agreed to talk. Let's go." she said. "Best of luck out there. You need it." Stella told me with a smile.

Tiana POV

"Hanji?" I was surprised to see her here. I honestly thought she will just send an approval letter. "Tiana, we need to talk." she told me. "I'll give you two some privacy" Ms Winkler said before getting out of the room. "I expected you to send an approval letter..." I started but Hanji interjected. "Tiana, both you and Levi are my best friends. I want both of you to be happy. What you two are doing right now isn't gonna make either of you happy." she went straight to business. "Hanji, I'm happy this way. I don't want him in my life." I told her. "Don't try to trick me, Tiana. You're as thin as a scarecrow. I could tell you can't eat properly. Don't be so selfish Tiana. We both know that you're not happy. Do you think your child will be okay without any explanation of why you left his or her father? You can't deny your child of his or her father just because you are angry." Hanji told me. "There is an explanation, Hanji. He decided to let Uncle Erwin die. He chose some Cadet over Uncle Erwin." I was interjected again. "Tiana, you weren't there when it happened. I saw the whole thing and I don't blame him. I don't know what he was thinking but I witnessed everything. He was going to give Erwin the injection. He was almost killed by Mikasa in the process. Eren begged him like his life depended on it. He ignored every one of them. I saw from far away that he almost pushed the needle in Erwin's hand but then Erwin shot his hand up, away from the needle and said something to Levi. That's when Levi gave the injection to Armin. I think, it was something that Erwin said that changed Levi's mind. Trust me, he wanted to save Erwin but I don't think Erwin wanted to be saved. If anyone broke a promise, it was Erwin. Not Levi." Hanji explained to me what she saw. Was I blaming Levi for nothing then? What did Uncle Erwin say to him? "Levi hasn't been sleeping for the last week and he honestly looks as old as his age now. I don't want any of you two to suffer. Please, atleast talk to him about it. Let him explain." Hanji told me in a serious tone. "Okay. I will talk to him." I sighed. If Hanji is right, I probably am making a big mistake by leaving him. I just had to make sure. "Ah, great! I will get Levi here in a minute. He's right outside!" Hanji said happily before skipping outside. That crazy woman is always prepared...

After a long minute, Levi entered the room. Hanji wasn't kidding when she said that Levi looks older. He had eyebags and looked like he had a bad case of a hangover. How much has he been drinking? I've never seen him having a hangover... Even after all that, he still managed to look almost as good as usual. "So, explain" I told him as he sat on the chair beside me. We were sitting at the dining room. "I decided that I will tell you everything from the beginning. After that, you're free to make any decision that you see fit." Levi told me. He looked like a defeated man, like he lost everything dear to him. "Okay" I replied before he started. "We were losing the battle. The beast titan was throwing boulders at us, cornering us. If we were to wait longer, everyone would've died. We were in the inner walls of wall Maria. My squad and Hanji's squad was in Shiganshina. The colossal titan was coming towards us from Shiganshina. Eren was unconscious on top of the wall. Everything spelt defeat. I proposed Erwin that I would sacrifice myself so that he and the others could ride Eren and escape. It was a botched up plan anyway. Erwin then told me that he had a plan which included him and every other soldier in the inner wall to charge at the beast titan, making themselves potential targets. They would shoot flares at the beast, distracting him and I would use the line of titans next to him to get to him. Erwin wanted to see what's in the basement and to attend the wedding. He wasn't willing to make the decision. I, at that time, decided that humanity's victory is more important because I wanted you and our child safe. Even if you leave me for it. I made the decision for him and he told me to take care of you two. The plan was a success. I got the beast titan but I hoped that Erwin was alive. I didn't kill the beast titan so that Erwin could turn into a titan and eat him. I was wrong, and the cart titan took the beast titan and ran off. He commanded his titan army to kill me but I killed the titan army as fast as possible before following the beast. I found him talking to Eren but he saw me and ran again. My gas was finished when I reached Eren. There, I found that Armin was almost burnt to death. He defeated the colossal titan earlier by sacrificing himself. Berthold was captured by Eren. Eren told me to use the serum on Armin. I hesitated because there still was a chance that Erwin might be alive and I was right. Erwin was badly injured and dying. I made the most obvious decision, which was to save Erwin. That's when Eren started begging. Mikasa shot at me with her sword when I hit Eren to get him out of the way. I just... Felt weak. Who was I to choose that their best friend, a person who was almost like a brother to them, should die? Even after all that, I knew that I had to save Erwin because I promised you that I will keep him safe. Hanji came later and took Mikasa off me, explained them that it has to be Erwin. That's when Eren mentioned how Armin wanted to see the ocean. I realized that both Erwin and Armin had dreams that made them go on. I still decided to bring Erwin back to life. Just as I was about to push the needle in his hand, he shot his hand up and muttered with his dying breath, "Teacher... How'd y... find out that they don't exist?". I remembered something that Kenny said at that time. That everyone has to be drunk on something in order to live. It matched with something Erwin told me earlier, that he wanted to die many times but it was the mystery of the basement that kept him alive. If he knew what was inside the basement, he probably wouldn't want to be alive like this anymore. And, that would be a loss for humanity nonetheless. Armin on the other hand had goals that was far from reach. I made the decision that felt would be best for humanity and the safety of you two. On the view point of a captain, I have no regrets, but, in a personal view point, I regret this decision and will continue to do so all my life." he explained. For once, I think I understood why he did it. "Levi, I understand why you did it. I think I will forgive you too, but, give me some time. I need to think it all over, and convince my mind to forgive you. It really wasn't your fault but I lost someone dear to me. I just, need some space till we get married." I replied. "You... You won't leave me? We are still getting married?" Levi asked, his voice and face showing surprise. "Yes. I won't leave you and we will get married on the date we fixed. However, I want to stay alone till that day. I need to give myself the time to forgive you." I explained. "Tiana, thank you so much for reconsidering... I don't deserve to be forgiven. I'm sorry..." Levi muttered. "It's okay Levi. By the way, how much are you drinking?" I asked him. "Oh, just every night. Like, 4 cans of beer? The ones with 16% alcohol." he answered with a smile. "Don't drink that much. It's bad for you. You look older." I told him. "Okay. I wont." he told me, holding my hand. I didn't know what came upon me because I got up and hugged him. He was still sitting down, his head was on my chest. "I'm so sorry.." he muttered. "It's okay. We will be okay." I told him, caressing his hair. He hugged be back in a few moments and I knew that I would never regret this decision of not leaving him.

[AUTHOR'S NOTE: TIANA WILL GET MARRIED IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! Sorry, I might have mentioned in chapter 18 that Tiana will have her kid after 6-7 chapters but I decided to give the characters a bit more development before going into that. So, Tiana won't have her kid in a few more chapters.]


	26. Awakening

No one' POV

6 days before the wedding

Tiana moved back in the survey corps headquarter but, this time she started using the room attached to her office. It wasn't as big as Levi's room as she was of a lower rank, but, it was big enough for her to stay in for a week. Her belongings were brought in the room with the help of her squad members from Levi's room. Tiana was worried about how things would go with the landlord of the house she thought of renting, given that she wouldn't need it anymore, but it went quiet well as the landlord was a very understanding person. It all happened the day after Levi came to talk to Tiana.

"TIANA! WAKE UP!" Tiana woke up to the shouts of Hanji. "Being commander didn't change her a bit... I'll have to lock my door from tommorow" Tiana thought spitefully as she sat on the bed and glared at Hanji. Starting from talking to that landlord to cleaning this entire room and making it liveable, Tiana did all that yesterday and wanted nothing more than some extra hours of sleep, but, ofcourse, Hanji has no regard for privacy. "Did someone die?" Tiana asked Hanji, hoping that she would have a valid explanation for waking her up. "Not yet but I'm pretty sure I would if you don't come with me now?" Hanji replied. "Why?" Tiana asked her, irritation never leaving her face. "Well, if I can recall properly, I was given the responsibility to get you a wedding dress. I don't have any idea how long it takes to make those but I'm pretty sure it would take about a week. So, we need to go now." Hanji explained. "Hanji, I'm not planning to have a big wedding anymore. I will talk to Levi about it today. I don't think I'll need a wedding dress as we will just get it done on papers in the Trost court house. After all that tragedy, I don't think I am ready for a big wedding." Tiana explained, appreciating the thoughtfulness of Hanji but annoyed that she was woken nonetheless. "Tiana, it's your big day. Trust me, you won't regret buying a dress. If you deny it right now, as your commander, I order you to get your ass up and go with me." Hanji told Tiana, looking serious suddenly. "Okay? Well, I know this shop. The shopkeeper, an old lady, helped me out in a tight spot once. I want to buy the dress from there." Tiana demanded, recalling the time when she was chased by the military police. "Yeah sure. No problem. Get dressed now!" Hanji told Tiana with a smile, not moving from her spot. "Well, I'm surprised that you didn't try to convince me to have a big wedding..." Tiana told Hanji as she got her skirt and shirt out. "Well, that's true but it doesn't mean you would necessarily have a simple court wedding..." Hanji muttered, her mind in the clouds. Tiana looked straight at Hanji with suspicion and asked, "Hanji, what exactly do you mean by that?". "Oh! What? Well, life is tricky right?! You never know what could happen in the future. Never what what I'm saying, okay?" Hanji babbled with a nervous laugh, thus increasing Tiana's suspicion. "Okay... " Tiana answered, clearly not accepting Hanji's attempt to hide whatever intentions she had. Hanji still didn't move from her place. "Uh, Hanji, could you get out of my room? I need to change clothes." Tiana told her. "Oh sure, I'll be in the stable. Be there in 15 minutes." Hanji told before running off. Tiana quickly dressed up, ran to the breakfast hall and grabbed a steamed potato and ran off to the stables while eating it, barely making it in 15 minutes.

"There you are! Let's go to that shop you were talking about. I had Diana saddle the horse." Hanji said excitedly. Diana stood there, holding the horses. Tiana thanked her and got on the horse. Hanji did the same and she followed her to that old lady's store. The old lady immediately recognised Tiana when she entered the store. "Hello Ms Hertz! I'm so glad you were okay after that day! What brings you here?" the old lady asked Tiana. "Good to see you ma'am. Without your help I wouldn't be alive to see this day. I am heavily indebted to you for that. You see, I am about to get married soon and I was planning to buy the wedding dress from here." Tiana explained with a smile. "Oh, yes dear, I did hear about the wedding. Congratulations! I've heard that Captain Levi never showed any intention of settling down. Poor man probably lost so many comrades that it must've been hard to fall in love. I'm glad that he is finding solace in life. I am really happy for the two of you. However, I'm afraid that I could not give you much options to choose from in case of wedding dresses. It takes about a month to make a custom made wedding dress and as much as I've heard, your wedding is in a week right? I'm afraid that you have to choose from one of my pre-made wedding dresses. I can certainly alter those for you in a week." the old lady explained. "Oh, that's not a problem. I'm not having a big wedding. It's just going to be a courthouse wedding. After all the tragedies from the operation to retake wall Maria, it seems unfitting to have a big wedding." Tiana sighed. "Very well, take a look at the collection then. Please follow me." the old lady said with a smile.

"Uh... Hanji, isn't it a bit...revealing?" Tiana muttered with a blush as she tried on a white wedding dress with a warm pink border on the hands and the hem of the dress. Over the breast, there was a baby pink thin border. The whole back was open in this strapless dress. The simplicity of the dress showed Tiana's beauty perfectly, though the marks on her back had to be removed with makeup, which Hanji knew she could convince Historia to do for Tiana. Tiana however, was concerned about how revealing the dress was because...she was Tiana. She had never been much keen on fashion. "Tiana, you only will get married once. This dress suits you better than all the other ones." Hanji tried to convince Tiana.

After about 30 minutes of Hanji's attempts to convince Tiana, which later ended with an "I'm your commander Tiana, you'll buy this dress", Hanji successfully got Tiana to order the dress. The old lady promised to alter it to Tiana's size in a week after taking her measurements. "Well, I'll have to let Levi know about my plan for the courthouse wedding.. I guess I'll have to go to his office after going to the survey corps headquarter." Tiana thought as she got on her horse.

Meanwhile,

Levi was sitting at his office, getting paperworks done. He didn't talk to Tiana since that day but no matter how much she missed her, he knew that she needed some space and he respected that. Suddenly, someone knocked at the door. "State your name and business" Levi said, loud enough for the person outside the door to hear. "Great. The last thing I wanted to deal with was people. As if all these paperworks aren't bad enough." Levi thought to himself, making an irritated expression. "It's cadet Schwarz. I needed to talk to you, heichou.". "Come in" Levi replied as Marie from Tiana's squad got in the room. Levi didn't approve of the fact that Tiana allowed this girl on her squad because she almost got Tiana's whole squad killed on expeditions. At the end, Tiana had to save all of them even though she felt sick when she used 3DMG. The amount of titans were less during the night time expeditions, but, there were always those special titans that could move using the moon light. "What is it?" Levi asked her, not looking up from the paperwork. "Well, heichou, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for your loss. I honestly never thought squad leader Tiana would ever do something like this. But yes, I never liked her much anyway. Honestly, when I heard that the special operations squad is taking members, I thought it was your squad. I had no interest in joining some junior's squad. However, if now that I am more experienced, could I join your squad? After all, squad leader Tiana doesn't seem to go to any expedition at all nowadays..." she tried to continue but Levi stopped her. "Hold on, what are you talking about? You really thought that you could say all those shit about Tiana and get to join my squad? Even if you had a minimum amount of decency, you aren't qualified enough to join my squad. I saw how you were on expeditions. You nearly got your whole squad killed more than once. If Tiana wasn't there, you all would be nothing more than titan shit. Weren't you complaining about not going to expeditions recently? Tell me, cadet, how many people came back from the last expedition? Have you ever seen as less as 9 people coming back from an expedition before? I didn't think so. If you are so eager to be titan fodder, I can get someone to take you and throw you off the wall. By the way, what loss are you talking about?" Levi told her with a stoic expression, still not looking up from the paperwork. Marie on the other hand was on the verge of crying. "Well, I heard that the wedding is cancelled? That squad leader Tiana left you?" Marie choked out. "Levi, I needed to talk to you about the wedding." Tiana entered Levi's office just as Marie finished. Levi looked up from the paperwork at Tiana and said, "Where did you run off to during breakfast? Oh, and there seems to be a rumour about our wedding getting cancelled. Cadet Schwarz just informed me about it.". " I see. Well, the wedding is happening. Infact, I went to the market with Hanji to order a wedding dress today. That's why I had to run during breakfast. Oh and Levi, I was wondering if we can get a courthouse wedding. I don't think a big wedding would be fitting after such a big tragedy..." Tiana sighed. "That's fine with me." Levi simply answered. "Marie, tell whoever that started the rumour that the wedding will take place. By the way, Marie, you are violating the dress code. Your shirt has three buttons opened. I'm supposed to report things like that to Hanji but I suppose I will give you a chance. I don't want to see such indiscipline again. Aren't you slacking off from cleaning duties right now? Go get your work done now." Tiana ordered Marie firmly. "Hai!" Marie muttered before getting out of Levi's office. "I left you alone for a week and people already are flirting with you." Tiana sighed as she sat on a chair infront of Levi. "If that was flirting, she was doing a horrible job at it." Levi muttered as he looked back at the paperwork. "Why do you insist on keeping her in your squad? She almost killed your squad more than once because she was trying to save her own skin. She just talked bullshit about you moments back. That type of soldier isn't fit for an elite squad." Levi muttered. "She has potential. However, I'm second guessing my decisions now given that she is after you." Tiana sighed. "We really are getting married..." Tiana muttered with a small smile. "Hmm. We are." Levi muttered, looking up from the paperwork towards Tiana. "Do you think we will have a happy life?" Tiana asked him. "I don't know about that. A happy life in this world sounds unlikely, but, I know that I won't regret a single thing about this decision." Levi answered. "I won't regret anything either" Tiana told Levi with a smile.

4 days before the wedding

Tiana was at the courthouse. She sat with Hanji, Jean and Historia at the waiting room. Historia was reading a letter that Ymir sent her through Reiner. Hanji arrived there not long ago. Levi was going to bring Eren, Mikasa and Armin. Tiana didn't face Armin till and didn't know how she would either. However, she had to do it sooner or later. "Is that all there was?" Historia asked when she was done reading. Tiana was distracted by her nervousness when Jean was asking Historia if there was any code. Armin would be here soon. Tiana didn't know how to react when she would see him. After all, he was chosen to live over Erwin... Just then, Levi, along with Eren, Mikasa and Armin entered. Tiana looked at Armin for a moment before looking away. She wasn't ready to face him yet. Armin got the message and didn't talk to Tiana either.

The court made the decision to let everyone inside the walls know about the new threat. That the new enemy was the world. It was time for a little break and after the break, the plans of making Wall Maria safe would be discussed and a decision would be taken. Tiana sat with Levi and Hanji, the only higher up members left in the survey corps. "Well, I was thinking that maybe we should start the operation to make Wall Maria safe as soon as possible when the new recruits come in. Maybe train them for a while too. It would take about four months to get all the titans killed given that the executioner from hell would still be working. It would all be done by winter in that case. The death toll will be high though.." Hanji sighed as she sipped her cup of tea. They were all sitting in the waiting room, having tea and discussing the plans. "Hanji, I have an idea. It's more of a gamble but it might work really well." Tiana told Hanji as she sipped her tea. "Huh? I thought you didn't like gambling." Hanji muttered, quiet surprised. "I usually don't but see it as a tribute to uncle Erwin." Tiana replied. "What's the plan?" Levi asked Tiana. "Well, what if we wait till winter? I will have my delivery by then and can participate in the mission. The executioner from hell could be working before snowfall starts. If the new recruits are given longer training, they will be more efficient as we won't be avoiding titans anymore and instead will be charging towards them. If long term training is given, and I'm in the front line, the four months could be reduced to a month and there would be fewer deaths." Tiana explained. "But.. We never went on expeditions during winter... Snow storms could completely ruin everything..." Hanji muttered. "Yes. There's always that risk but snow storms usually occur during December. The weather is more or less peaceful on Januarys even though that's the coldest month. We will need more insulated uniforms however." Tiana explained. "That does make sense... But you're supposed to be on rest for 2 months after childbirth." Hanji stated. "I'll be fine by a month. Trust me." Tiana answered to that. "Tiana, I won't let an injured soldier on the battlefield." Levi stated, glaring at Tiana. "Levi, I can attend training for a week before the expedition. If I'm performing good enough, I'll go. In both ways, number of deaths will be reduced. If I don't go, it might take a bit more time but that's all about it." Tiana answered. "Very well, I'll propose this plan to the supreme Commander." Hanji stated.

2 days before the wedding

Tiana's plan was accepted by the Supreme commander. Hanji was in charge of implementing it as she was the new commander. It was printed in newspapers about the truth behind titans. Today, the nine survivors from the operation to retake wall Maria would be honoured. Tiana along with her squad was present there, to see the others get awarded. There, before the awarding ceremony started, she came face to face with Armin. Floch was telling him that he didn't deserve to live and Erwin did. That made Tiana remember exactly what her mother told her a few months back. Floch was wrong. Armin deserves to live. They both did. "Floch" Tiana called out as she approached the group. "Don't ever say that someone didn't deserve to live. Both of them deserved to live. Armin just was the lucky one. That's all there is to it." she told him. "Sorry, squad leader Tiana but it's just what I think." Floch replied. "Floch is right. If there is anyone who can get us out of this situation.. It's not me." Armin stated with a grim expression. "What makes you say that? Didn't you just hear what Tiana said?... " Eren said as he continued about everything outside the wall, about freedom, about how no one knows the outcome. He did learn a lot from Levi. Tiana knew that Levi would be proud of him. "Armin, I wish uncle Erwin was alive and standing here too. However, that doesn't mean I wish you were dead. You got the chance to live, so make it worth uncle Erwin's life. You need to make us all proud now." Tiana told Armin. "Hey, you brats. It's time. Line up." Levi told the others as he arrived. He made an eye contact with Tiana, letting her know that he appreciated what she just did right now. After all, all that was left to do for now was to make things right. Atleast before the real war breaks.

The wedding day

Tiana woke up earlier than usual. No, she just didn't sleep all night. This was it after all. She would get married sooner than ever. Hanji made it clear that Tiana wasn't allowed to meet Levi before the wedding. She seemed very keen about maintaining the traditional ways which didn't make any sense to Tiana as she will be going to the courthouse with Levi. Tiana sat on the bed looking at the wedding dress that was hanging on a hook on the door. It was too revealing. All her scars will be visible... The sun was just rising when she woke up. Hanji was keen on having a bachelorette party but Tiana dismissed the matter completely. She wasn't into social gatherings and she didn't have much friends to begin with. The only people she could've invited were Mikasa, Hanji and probably Sasha. Historia was out of the question as she was the queen. Besides, Levi didn't have any friends either. He probably wouldn't count his squad since they are half his age. Hanji was the type of person who wouldn't bring age between friendship as she was childish by nature. Tiana felt nervous, excited, and felt butterflies in her stomach. "Why the hell am I feeling like a teenager?" Tiana thought irritably. She got out of bed, wore her a skirt and shirt and went to the breakfast hall. She knew that Hanji would probably be upset if she met Levi during lunch. After all, Hanji had been getting Tiana her food in her room by her new squad members for the last two days. She even made sure to warn Tiana not to go to certain places like the courtyard because apparantly Levi will be training recruits in the courtyard. Tiana picked up a bread and some mashed potatoes and took them back in her room. Just after she was done eating, Hanji entered her room with... Historia? "Tiana, I have some surprises for you!" Hanji exclaimed. "Historia? Didn't you leave Trost?" Tiana asked surprised. "Ah about that, she didn't leave Trost. I lied to you. She stayed back for your wedding." Hanji explained. "But I'm not having a big wedding... It's just going to be Levi and me... Wait... What the hell did you do Hanji?!" Tiana glared at Hanji. "Well, I might have planned a wedding for you. In the headquarter courtyard." Hanji stated with glee. "Hanji, I told you that I don't want a big wedding. Why wouldn't you listen to me?" Tiana asked, absolutely frustrated with Hanji. "Tiana, what do you think Erwin would've wanted? Would he be happy with the fact that you are giving away this once in a lifetime experience because he passed away? I understand that you needed time to grieve and that's why I decided not to burden you with things like planning a wedding. But Tiana, trust me, you won't regret having a big wedding. We couldn't delay it because of the social issues as you are pregnant. Please try to understand why I did it." Hanji explained. Tiana sighed at it. Hanji was right. Right now, she may not be feeling like having a big wedding but later, she probably would want this to be memorable. "Does Levi know?" Tiana asked Hanji. "Hehehe, I knew you'd come around! Well, I sent Mikasa to tell Levi about it." Hanji said excitedly. "I see..." Tiana knew that wouldn't go too well as Levi didn't particularly like Mikasa as she was always going against him when it came to Eren, not to mention that she almost killed him. "Hanji, you're my maid of honour then." Tiana blandly stated. She wasn't much into grand gestures anyway. "Yes I know." Hanji said with a smile.

Meanwhile, Levi woke up not too long ago, had breakfast, and was in his room, choosing a coat and shirt for the wedding. He didn't bother to go and buy anything new because he had more than enough formal attire. Levi, surprisingly, didn't feel as calm as he usually feels about stressful situations. Infact, his insomnia was worse than ever last night. He himself was surprised by the amount of nervousness he was suffering from and was feeling irritable ever since he got up from the negligible amount of nap that he took while sitting at his desk. A knock at his office door distracted him from the work at hand. Not pleased with the distraction, Levi walked into the office and said loud enough for the person on the other side to hear, "State name and business." "It's cadet Ackerman. The commander sent me." said the monotoned voice from the other side of the door. "What does shitty glasses want now... If she gets me more paperworks, I'll break her hands. I've been doing her fucking work for the last two days because of her shitty excuse of training recruits." Levi thought irritably before saying, "come in". Mikasa got in the room and without any further explanation, she merely said, "Commander Hanji planned your wedding. She said it's gonna happen in a courthouse over her dead body. I was supposed to inform that to you." "Wait, what?" Levi asked, completely confused. Mikasa didn't answer to that. "Get shitty glasses here right now. I need some explanation." Levi commanded Mikasa. "Sorry, I can't do that. She is convincing Tiana that this was a good idea now." Mikasa answered. "Fine. You're dismissed." Levi told Mikasa before getting out of his office and going straight for Tiana's office.

"Well, it's 6am now. The wedding is at 9am. I've invited all of the survey corps members and their families, the lady from the shop who made the dress, some people from the Garrison and the military police, who had good ties with Erwin. They all will be here by 9. Lunch will take place at 12pm. After that, we can all rest for a while before the party during evening, where dinner will be served. Some people from the press will be here too as Levi is practically a celebrity and you're on your way to the same path too. So, you need to get started on your makeup now. Historia got some really good ones to get rid of those marks on your back." Hanji explained, sounding excited. "I see. Well, when were you planning to let me know of all these?" Hanji turned to see Levi standing at the door with arms crossed. "Oh, um... Well, it was a surprise. Didn't Mikasa tell you about everything?" Hanji chuckled nervously as Levi continued to glare at her. "Well, Mikasa was informative enough to let me know that you said that a courthouse wedding will take place on your dead body. Infact, that's the only thing she told me except just saying that I'm not having a courthouse wedding." Levi told in a monotoned tone before looking at Tiana and asking, "Should I make that a dead body?" as he pointed at Hanji. "It's fine. She can live. She managed to convince me that this is a good idea." Tiana sighed before looking at Hanji and asking, "Why aren't you trying to hide me from Levi? Isn't the so called 'tradition' being broken now?". "Oh, you really thought I care about stuff like that? I was trying to keep the two of you away so that you won't find out that I was bluffing about Levi training recruits." Hanji explained to Tiana with a smile. "Wait, so, weren't you training the recruits?" Levi asked Hanji. "What? Ofcourse I wasn't. I was busy planning the wedding and I didn't have time for paperworks and I needed you out of the courtyard too, so I made you finish all my paperworks. Oh, by the way, I took the cost of decorations off your salary." Hanji told Levi with a smile. "I'll kill you someday shitty glasses." Levi stated monotonously. "Relax, I paid for the decorations by myself. Consider that as a wedding gift. I got all the food for free though. The Reeves company supplied all the ingredients for free as a token of appreciation as we took back wall Maria. Jean and Sasha are cooking. Apparantly they both are good at it? I heard from your squad that they had a cooking competition back in their trainee corps days. Oh, and I payed that priest that you booked for your wedding to come here and get you two married." Hanji explained to Levi. "Well, thank you. I need to choose a coat now. " Levi told Hanji before going back to his office. "Well then, Historia, do your best to get Tiana ready. I'll go see if all the arrangements are going well." Hanji told Historia before getting out of the room.

Three hours later,

"Yes, its all done." Historia told Tiana happily, admiring her own handiwork. Not one scar on her back was visible anymore and Tiana, as she got infront of the mirror, saw exactly how beautiful she looked. Historia tied her hair in a beautiful bun, gave her a really natural looking makeup and the dress showed off her petite figure perfectly. "Well, you'll be walking the aisle in about 30 minutes. I'll send someone to call the commander. She is supposed to bring the flowers." Historia told Tiana before she got out of the room. Tiana sat alone and something crossed her mind. Who will walk down the aisle with her? It was supposed to be Erwin but now... "Woahhh! Tiana! You look amazing!" Hanji exclaimed as she entered the room. She was wearing a green dress but her hair was as greasy as ever. Tiana muttered a "thank you" as Hanji handed her a bouquet of white lilies. "Well, it's time. Let's go." Hanji told Tiana as she took her to the door to the courtyard.

Meanwhile, it took Levi an hour to choose his clothes. Everything just had to be perfect. He chose a navy blue coat, pants and tie with a grey shirt. He debated for a while about whether he should close the top button of the shirt but decided to leave it open as that made him look better. He took a shower, brushed his hair perfectly so that not one strand will be out of place, ironed the shirt, coat and pants and wore everything, all in 3 hours. Levi sat down by his desk, feeling fidgety as he never imagined he would be facing something like this before. Just then, he heard a knock. "State your name and business" Levi said as usual. "It's Eren. Hanji-san sent me." The voice outside the door said. "Come in." Levi answered. "Hanji-san said that the wedding will start soon... Heichou, you look...uh...nervous?" Eren said, his face slightly contorted. "Do I look like shit? You can say it on my face." Levi told him directly. "Uh... Not exactly like shit but you look like... You would call it constipated, sir." Eren said, giving up all his confidence into making the sentence. "I see." Levi sighed. "Heichou, it's not my place to say it but I don't think Tiana would want you to be nervous. I mean, you're only getting married to her. She probably would want you to feel at comfort because it's her." Eren chimed in. "Yes. You're right." Levi stated in his usual monotoned voice after giving an intense stare at Eren, which obviously creeped Eren out. Eren was right, he should be comfortable because it's Tiana that he's getting married to. He had never been as comfortable to anyone as he had been with Tiana. "Hanji-san asked me to tell you that you are being called at the aisle. The wedding is about to start." Eren informed, still creeped out. "Very well. Let's go then." Levi told, back into his confident monotoned voice as he followed Eren.

Tiana stood infront of the door to the aisle. Alone. She never missed Erwin as much as she did now. "The last thing he left me with was a broken promise." Tiana thought. "Hello, Tiana. Congratulations on your wedding." a familiar voice called out from behind her. "Hello, commander Pixis." Tiana answered sourly. "I'm sorry for your loss. Erwin spoke of you quiet often. He cared about you a lot." Pixis told Tiana as he stood beside her. "Yes. I know. However, it seems like everyone who cares about me is never there when I need them." Tiana answered in a stoic voice. "Hah. A sharp mouth. Just like the mother. I'm glad you're a better person though." Pixis laughed. "I don't remember Gloria Hertz having a sharp mouth. Thanks for your compliment nonetheless." Tiana answered. "Well, let's just get to the reason I'm here. It seems like you don't have anyone to walk down the aisle with you. My second in Command happens to know that you're my daughter and she decided to confiscate my alcohol if I don't act as a responsible father. I was hoping if I could walk down the aisle with you." Pixis stated. "Well, if I were to be a good daughter, I wouldn't let you walk the aisle with me because drinking that much is bad for your health. If I were to be as bad a daughter as you were a father, I would still not walk the aisle with you as everyone in the military knows how addicted you are to alcohol. This would make a good revenge for abandoning me. However, since I'm neither a good daughter nor a bad, I can say that you are bluffing about the whole thing because if your second in command forced you to come here, she would be around to see if you are trying to convince me to walk the aisle and I don't see any person anywhere in this corridor." Tiana answered. Pixis let out a small laugh at this and said, "You keep proving to me that you really are my daughter. Anyway, I would tell you the truth then. Back when your mother told me about you, I wasn't ready for a child, so, we came to a deal that I would pay her and she would give you a better life. A part of the deal was that when you are grown enough, she would send you up here and I would get you into the military, giving you a good position in the Garrison and taking your responsibility. However, it seemed like your mother couldn't control her greed and sold you off, enjoying all the money I sent her by herself. When the survey corps found you, I decided that I was not good enough to be a father. After all, I never looked after you, I never saw what condition you were being kept into. I decided that you would have a better life with a normal family instead. When that incident with Jacob happened, if I stepped up as your father, the court would have to deal with further complications as you were getting special treatment ever since you came up aboveground. I had no intention of letting you go to the juvenile detention and thus I talked to my political connections and got Erwin involved. I told him the whole thing and asked him to look after you. Then the tragedy of Wall Maria happened. The Hertz couple died and I could've told you that I was your real father but I figured that you would hate me for not telling you before and making you suffer so much. That's when I decided that it's best if you never know. That was until you found out. I pretended to be the irresponsible father who wanted nothing to do with you because you were happy enough with this life. We all know that in the military, there's no guarantee of how life could end up to be. I had my own fears about what the survey corps would find in Jaegar's basement. Fears that came to be true. I, however, expected Erwin to be back alive and you to have a good life. I never expected him to kick the bucket so soon. Nevertheless, I can't pretend to be a good father in any way, but, I had my reasons of doing what I did. Right now, I want to make amends for it, so, let me walk the aisle with you. Please.". "So you're here for the title of being my father and to play family out of nowhere." Tiana answered. "If you put it that way, then yes. That's exactly why I'm here." Pixis said, his voice sounding serious. "I can't ever see you as my father. My father was Thomas Hertz. However, I would give you this chance as it will help us both, you with your redemption and me for not walking down the aisle alone missing uncle Erwin even more." Tiana answered in a serious tone before holding Pixis's arm. "Oi Tiana, it's time. Uh... Why are you here, commander Pixis?" Hanji asked both of them as she came to notify Tiana to get out of the door. "He will be walking me down the aisle." Tiana simply answered. "Ohhh... Okay?" Hanji muttered, confused with the whole deal and thinking how this possibly happened. "Let's get on with it then." Tiana told Hanji, a small smile forming on her face.

**[The music from attack on titan's first closing theme begins]**

_A small black haired girl was running towards the only opening of the underground city where sunlight comes from the upper cities and it is not guarded by soldiers. (The hole where Isabel left her bird to escape in No Regrets). She hid behind a rock however because a boy, a teenage boy with black hair was sitting on a rock nearby, watching the sunlight enter the place._

**Sono yume wa kokoro no ibasho**

**Your dream is where your heart is**

_Only both the black haired children didn't know that their dream was the same. To get out of this hell. To find freedom._

**Inochi yori kowareyasuki mono**

**It's something more fragile than life itself**

_The black haired boy noticed the girl walking away. He looked up at the sunlight, dreaming of the day he will get out of here. _

**Nando de mo sutete wa mitsuke**

**Constantly abandoned and constantly found**

_The small girl was sitting on the floor, hugging her thin boney legs, her face white with fear. The green cloaked men beat up all the bad people just moments ago. She saw a tall blonde man approach her._

**Yasukara ni saa nemure**

**So rest in peace now**

_She looked at the blond man in green cloak as he held his hand to her. She was scared but she took his hand. Everything would be alright now, right?_

**Myakuutsu shoudou ni**

**My pulsing urges**

_The small frail girl sat infront of a huge bloodied corpse, a bloodied knife in her hand. She accepted the fact that dreaming was for the foolish. Dreams never came true._

**Negai wa okasare**

**Tramples upon my wishes**

_The black haired boy, stood in the rain and mud looking at the severed head and bitten off torso of his only friends. He accepted the fact that dreaming was for the weak. That he would never dream again._

**Wasurete shimau hodo**

**As often as I sadly forget**

_The black haired boy, now the strongest soldier of humanity, walked towards the stable to tend his horse._ When_ he reached, he saw a black haired girl_

**Mata omoidasu yo**

**I remember once again**

_She looked like the exact reflection of himself, a person weathered by the weight of circumstances. He was surprised to see those dead eyes, that unsmiling face. Who is she?_

**Kono utsukushiki zankoku na sekai de wa**

**In this beautiful yet cruel world**

The same black haired boy, now a grown man, suddenly, felt a jolt of lightening surge through him as he stood at the end of the aisle. This happened to him a few times before. Everything felt connected.

**Mada ikiteiru no koto naze to tou bakari de**

**I endlessly question the reason of my survival**

The small frail girl, now a grown strong woman, approached him from the others end of the aisle with a slight smile on her face. He couldn't explain with words, how beautiful she looked to him. He knew that he had to protect her as long as he lived.

**Ah, boku-tachi wa kono tsuyosa yowasa de**

**Ah, with this strength and weakness**

She walked towards the man with slow steps, she noticed his mouth slightly open, eyes widened. She didn't understand why.

**Nani wo mamoru no darou**

**I wonder what it is we'll protect**

She lost so much in life that it was natural that she felt living wasn't worth the pain. That was not the case, however. He gave her the strength to go on. So did their child.

**Mou risei nado nai naraba**

**When a reason ceases to exist**

The vows were made and the bride and groom kissed. Even when there was little reason to go on, this life with eachother meant everything to them. After all, this small world of theirs once again, witnessed an ackerman's awakening.

[AUTHOR'S NOTE: This was a really tough chapter to write. Hope you all enjoyed it! I have this deviantart ID where I posted a picture of Tiana and Levi's wedding. Check it out! There's other pictures of Tiana there too. The name of the ID is justanotherlife1543]


	27. Aftermath

Hanji's POV

Who knew that I would live to see the day when Levi would be staring at a girl with his mouth open? The wedding went more smoothly than expected. I have no clue about why Commander Pixis decided to walk Tiana down the aisle but I was sure that I would ask Tiana about it as soon as the wedding was over. "When I met you for the first time, the look I saw in your eyes interested me. Back then, I wondered who you were, what might have happened to you because that day I saw my own reflection on you. After that, you kept proving to me that you were strong, stronger than any woman I had ever seen. When I finally knew who you were, I understood why you resembled me so much and the reason you are so strong. I never gave relationships any attention because I wasn't fond of being with someone who couldn't keep up with me or being with someone who could but might die on the process. You were the only person that I knew had a huge chance of not dying and keeping up with me with the same time. I know how much you went through, yet, you kept your head up and moved on with life and I admire you for that. I wouldn't choose to be with anyone else other than you because I feel that we are two sides of the same coin. Tiana, I want to be the person who will protect you from any harm coming to your way. I want to be the one who could make you feel the happiness that you deserve. I don't want you to feel any pain alone because I want to be there to share the pain with you, shield you from it if I could. I vow to keep all these promises till my last breath." Levi read from the piece of paper on his hand. I had to admit that he worked hard for this one because something that emotional coming from him sounds unsettling. "Ever since I was born, I never found a reason to live. This world was always a dark place for me. There was this one time when I thought that everything will fall into place but those dreams were shattered, making me fall into an endless abyss of desolation. That was until that day, when you gave me the cleaning duties of your quarters. I found someone who understood me. I believed that all of this world's cruelty were placed upon me but after talking to you, I realized that there were other damaged people to, as damaged as I am. If I were to tell the truth, the first time I felt the need to be with you was when you comforted me while I was vulnerable, drunk and filthy instead of leaving me alone. I didn't intend to speak my heart out to you that day but the way you handled it, it made me realise that I looked at you in a way much more than just my captain. As you advised me, I don't regret any decisions that I have made on the way because all of it has lead to this day, the day when I can truly say that I am happy. Levi, I vow that I will fight anything on my way to keep it this way. I vow that nothing will come between us because for the first time, I found a reason to live." Tiana read from her page, with her smile growing. I felt happy for Tiana, as I remember, the first time I saw her, she had this never ending frown on her face. My first thought on that day was, "how did we end up with a female version of Levi?". I chuckled at the memory as I saw Tiana turn beet red as the priest told Levi to kiss the bride. Levi being himself, kissed Tiana with the usual frown on his face. Well, seems like this day was getting weirder and weirder as I saw Levi gape at Tiana, I saw Tiana blush, and I saw both of them kiss public. God knows what I'll do when I start seeing little Levis running around...

No one's POV

After the wedding was over, people rushed to congratulate the newly wed couple. Levi handled the attention with his usual polite and serious demeanour but Tiana, though she was both polite and serious too, was slightly flustered by the sudden bombardment of attention. As she struggled with all the guests, particularly all the jealous new cadets who were trying to make small talk with her, or more accurately, make her feel more tense than she already was, Hanji came to the rescue and scared them off by bringing up her titan experiments. " That always works." Hanji chuckled before looking at Tiana's pale face and asking, "Are you okay Tiana?". " I need to puke... Morning sickness... Help..." Tiana muttered, barely controlling herself from puking all over Hanji. "Oh dear... Let's get out of here." Hanji muttered as she made her way among the guests and helped Tiana get into the headquarters.

"Are you feeling better?" Hanji asked Tiana when she was done puking in the sink. "Yeah... I'll have to sit for a while.. Standing isn't helping... " Tiana muttered as an answer. To that, Hanji started walking with Tiana towards her office. It would be Tiana's last time using that room in her office since she would be moving in to the house Levi bought. "Why did Pixis walk down the aisle with you?" Hanji asked Tiana while walking beside her, her eyes glinting with curiosity. Tiana didn't answer to it right away. "It's probably best if you don't know." she answered after a moment of silence. "Tiana, you could share anything with me you know. Have I ever judged you?" Hanji asked with a softened expression, putting a hand on Tiana's shoulder. Tiana sighed at that and after a few more moments, said, "Promise me that you won't be too surprised and that you would forget that I ever told this to you.". " Well, if it involves humanity or Levi, I don't know if I can keep that promise because I'm a commander now and I have some responsibilities and Levi is my only other friend beside you." Hanji answered. "Relax Hanji, it involves none. The truth is, Commander Pixis is my biological father. It's a rather long story that I don't want to repeat." Tiana answered with a sigh. To that Hanji smiled and replied, "okay, I didn't see that coming. Does Levi know?". " Yeah he does. He is the only other person besides you, myself and Commander Pixis to know about that, not counting my biological mother who is non existent to me at this point." Tiana answered as they reached her room. "Alright, I'll have to go inform Levi that you're resting and not feeling well and I have to deal with the guests too. I'll send Mikasa to give you company." Hanji answered as she went towards Tiana's door. However, she stopped at the door, looked back and said, "Hey, it's okay to have a weird backstory. Most of us around here have something like that. I mean, look at me, I love titans. I'm the last person who would judge you fot something like that.". " Yeah I know. Thanks Hanji. For everything." Tiana answered with a smile. Hanji gave her a cheerful "you're welcome" before getting out of the room.

Levi POV

It was a shitty experience really. Not the part where I got married to Tiana, that was amazing, but the part where I had to talk to those snobby women, trying to make it seem like Tiana isn't the best person I could possibly be with, or the jealous men who seemed to have a thing for Tiana but didn't deserve to be anywhere near her, or the older officials, trying to make it seem that I am an asshole who got a girl pregnant before wedlock or that Tiana is not a good person because she let that happen. I, ofcourse, made sure they knew that something was wrong with their pea sized brains, in the most polite way possible. I would kill Hanji for inviting these good for nothing worthless pieces of shits to my wedding. It was time for lunch and I was sitting beside Tiana on the lunch table. I had to admit that Sasha and Jean from my squad did a good job cooking. I asked her if she was okay after she arrived and she brushed it off. Judging by her face though, I knew she didn't have any appetite for food. All she had been eating daily were potatoes. If my kid turns out to be a complete maniac like Sasha, I'll probably go broke only by buying food. Thankfully, Hanji made Sasha steam some potatoes for Tiana and Tiana was able to eat that without barfing on any of the people on the table. I wouldn't mind if she barfed on those shitty guests though. When lunch was over, the sun was almost setting. The guests from other military branches went away while the cadets and other members of the scout regiment stayed in the dining hall. Mine and Tiana's squad, as they were held responsible for keeping the whole arrangement in place, went off to clean the tables and get the buffet tables out of the dining hall for some reason. I was sitting with Tiana, talking about the annoying guests. "...and then I told this girl that Tiana is the most beautiful person I've met but thanks for your congratulations. You should've seen her face. It looked like it was leaking shit." I told Tiana before noticing that she was shivering slightly. "Are you cold?" I asked her, eyeing the very revealing dress. "Yeah... This dress doesn't cover my back..." she answered, her teeth slightly clattering. To that, I took my coat off and put it on her shoulder. She immediately wrapped it around her like a shawl. "Feeling better?" I asked her before she gave me a slight smile and answered, "Yes". We talk for a while before my squad got their chores done and took her away to sit with them while I got stuck with Hanji.

A few hours later

The wedding was over but it seemed like Hanji brought alcohol for the whole scout regiment. Apparantly they will be celebrating at night. "You do know that they will have training tomorrow right?" I told her. "Come on Levi! Let them have some fun. Besides, you just got married! Take a day off and show Tiana some good time, you know what I mean" Hanji winked at me as I gave her a look of disgust. "I don't think the comma..." I trailed off. "I don't think the commander would allow it" was something I always used to get out of whatever shitty idea Hanji got in her messed up head but seems like I couldn't do that anymore because Hanji is the commander now. "Well, I as commander, give you a day off." Hanji told me in a smug voice. "Fine. By the way, who will be training these brats?" I asked Hanji, giving a nasty look towards the recruits in the dining hall where everyone was chatting. I already disliked most of them because of their views on my wedding. I understand that they had a thing for me or Tiana, I faced people like that before but the ship already had sailed for me and I didn't see the point of them trying anymore. It just seemed like a pain. Tiana was sitting with my squad, chatting with them, specially the gloomy brat, Mikasa. I had no clue how Tiana was friends with that girl as it seemed like all she knew was to glare at me or hate on me whereas Tiana usually did quiet the opposite. "You'll be training them. You're the best soldier around here and if they are trained by you for that many months, Im sure they will get better fighting skills than most new veterans." Hanji explained. "Okay. I'll do it" I told her with a stoic expression. "The party for the night will begin soon. I expect you not to back out from the wedding dance." Hanji told me with a smile as she looked away. That shitty glasses must be kidding. "Is this some shitty joke of yours?" I asked her, with a monotoned voice. "Nope. It's not. I want this to be memorable. After all, it's all going good for you right? Give us some entertainment out of it, Levi" Hanji told me before shouting out, "Attention cadets!". All the cadets stood up and saluted towards her as she was the commander. "At ease soldiers. I was proposing, don't you all want the famous grumpy couple among us dance together?" Hanji shouted with enthusiasm. The cadets shouted a loud yes, my squad being the loudest. "That's right! Let's make them dance!" Hanji shouted. "Hanji... I'll kill you in sleep." I warned her. "Dance! Dance! Dance!" Hanji started a chant and the whole regiment joined. I looked at Tiana and her face was beet red. "Tch." I made a sound of annoyance before I walked towards Tiana. "He's really doing it..." I heard the cadets muttering in shock. Ofcourse, they wouldn't expect me to dance. I wasn't planning to either but, well, if the commander says so, I decided to let loose a bit. I knew how to dance, as I've attended more than enough charity events and other military events with Hanji, representing the survey corps and Hanji always pushed me into dancing. I had no idea if Tiana knew how to dance. "Oi Albert! Get the violin out and play something!" Hanji shouted at a meek boy among the cadets who ran to the corner of the dining hall, where a violin that I didn't previously notice laid. As I reached Tiana, she stood up. I was still in my grey shirt and Tiana was still in her wedding dress. Tiana still had my coat on her shoulder. "Do you know how to dance?" I asked her so that she won't embarrass herself. "Uncle Erwin taught me." she told me meekly. Ofcourse he did. After all, Tiana did spend a lot of time with him. The boy started playing a cheerful but slow melody on his violin as I took Tiana's hand in mine. Hanji motioned us to go to the open area where the buffet tables usually stand. Now I knew why they moved the tables. Shitty glasses had it planned all along. I took Tiana there, put a hand on her waist and took one of her hands. She laid her other hand on my shoulder and we danced. "Erwin did a good job teaching you how to dance." I commented as I twirled her by her hand. Her steps were flawless. "Thanks. It didn't go to well with singing though." Tiana muttered, with her usual frown on her face. I had my stoic expression on too as none of us had any intention to dance and were sort of forced into it thanks to that shitty glasses. As the music was over, Hanji walked over to us and said, "You two looked like there were sticks up your asses.". " I'd love to make you experience that you know." Tiana muttered, stealing my words. "Hey, I probably won't want that. After all, it didn't sound too comfortable 'that day'" Hanji mentioned with a wink. She was talking about the day she walked on us. "Would you mind if I kill her someday?" I asked Tiana with a stoic expression. "I don't know who she is." Tiana answered with a monotoned voice. "Oi! I'm supposed to be the two your friend!" Hanji whined before Tiana flicked her forehead and told her, "Thanks for planning the wedding. It was amazing.". To that, Hanji gave Tiana a tight hug, almost squeezing all the air out of her and saying, "See Levi? She's better than you.". "Whatever you say shitty glasses." I answered as Tiana choked out "I can't breathe!".

We had dinner after a while and Tiana had potatoes once again. She made me promise that I would have to buy her meat after her first trimester. It was time to go home. Our new home. Thinking about it made me feel like someone punched me in the gut but somehow the feeling was good. After dinner, we rode on the carriage that Hanji booked for us and went towards our home.

No one's POV

**Guitar strumming from so ist es immer (the theme from the no regerts spinoff) begins**

Levi turned the key to the door of their home but stopped before opening the door. This was it. This was a new beginning for him. He felt Tiana's hand on his shoulder, trying to give him the courage to start this life with her. With that he opened the door and stepped in the house with her.

**Die Stühle liegen sehr eng**

**The chairs lie so close**

Both of them looked around the small cozy living room. This was the life both of them always wanted and their dreams were coming true.

**Wir reden die ganze Nacht lang**

**We talk all night long**

Levi and Tiana looked at eachother, both knowing that they reached their goal towards happiness. With that, Levi kissed Tiana on her lips.

**Dieser niedrige Raum ist nicht schlecht**

**This lower room isn't bad**

Back at the headquarters, Eren watched all his comrades and friends drink and have fun.

**Wir können uns gut verstehen**

**We understand eachother so well**

Eren was reminded of the memories of his father. This was only the begining of the big storm ahead, he thought.

**So ist es immer, unser Licht ist nur das**

**Just like it always is, this is just our light**

Eren was called to join the others by Connie. A small smile formed on his face.

**Trinken und singen wir, begrüßen morgen**

**We drink and we sing, we welcome tommorow**

Eren remembers the time when the old Levi squad was alive, when Tiana was a newbie and everyone drank and had fun. He knew he would lose many of these dear comrades too as he joined them, ready for the storm ahead.

**So ist es immer, unter'm riesigen Himmel**

**Just like it always is, under the enormous sky**

Tiana and Levi were in their bedroom, still kissing. Everything finally fell into place for them.

**Leben wir zusammen, die Nacht ist lang**

**We live together, the night is long**

Tiana breaks the kiss, looking at Levi with bright eyes and a smile

**Da die Sterne nicht leuchten**

**The stars don't shine**

Levi saw Tiana looking at him as if he is the most precious thing to her. He understood the feeling because he felt the same.

**Kann der Mond auf diese Stadt nicht scheinen**

**You can't see the moon in this city.**

Tiana's smile got bigger as her hand reached for Levi's cheek.

**Schauten wir das Licht selbst an**

**We looked at the light itself**

"Levi..." Tiana said softly. Levi looked into her eyes, waiting for her to finish.

**Singen wir unter dem Sternenmeer**

**Singing under the stary sea**

"...I love you" Tiana finished. Levi's eyes widened as he never heard these three words from Tiana, or anyone except years ago, from his mother. "I love you too" Levi answered after a moment as he got himself together.

**Chairs so close and room so small**

Levi pulled Tiana closer to him before he pushed her on the bed

**You and I talk all the night long**

Their clothes laid discarded on the ground

**Meagre this space but serves us so well**

Levi entered her, for the first time, making love instead of just lustful sex.

**We comrades have stories to tell**

As they both had an orgasm, Levi buried his face on the crook of her neck, hiding the tears of happiness in his eyes. Tiana however didn't try hiding it as she wore a smile on her face as a few drops of tears escaped her eyes.

**And it's always like that in the evening time**

Tiana and Levi sat at the dining table for a cup of tea before bed.

**We drink and we sing when our fighting is done**

As Tiana sipped from her cup, she heard the sound of thunder and she got up from her chair to look out of the window at the sudden downpour.

Levi saw Tiana go for the door to the backyard. He followed her to see what she was about to do

**Ease our burden, long is the night**

Tiana stepped out of the house and held her hand forward, out of the space under the roof and let the drops of rain fall on her hand.

**Just as no stars can be seen**

Tiana suddenly stepped out from the shelter of the roof, spreaded her hands like the wings of a bird and let herself get drenched in the rain. She never enjoyed the rain before.

**We are stars and we'll beam on our town**

Levi looked at her from the door with surprise as he didn't expect her to do something like this.

**We must all gather as one**

Tiana turned at him and held a hand out at him, asking him to join her.

**Sing with hope and the fear will be gone**

After giving it a thought, Levi held Tiana's hand.

**Die Stühle liegen sehr eng**

**The chairs lie so close**

Tiana was surprised too as she didn't think Levi would agree to this.

**You and I talk all the night long**

Slowly, Levi stepped out in the rain too. He didn't enjoy rain ever either, specially after Isabelle and Farlan...

**Dieser niedrige Raum ist nicht schlecht**

**This lower room isn't bad**

Tiana suddenly had a sneaky smirk on her face as she pulled harshly on Levi's hand making him fall on the mud

**We comrades have stories to tell**

Levi was shocked and angry because of the sudden action as he hated dirt but Tiana's giggle threw all the anger away from his mind.

**So ist es immer, denn immer im Ertrag**

**Just like it always is, always profiting**

An evil glint formed on Levi's eyes before he pulled Tiana onto him, getting mud all over her as well.

**We drink and we sing when our fighting is done**

When Tiana was over the shock of falling, she bursted out laughing, throwing more mud on Levi's face.

**So ist es immer, we live under the burnt clouds**

**Just like it always is, we live under the burnt clouds**

Levi does the same, a big smile forming on his face before he began to laugh as well

**Ease our burden, long is the night**

They both threw mud at eachother like children, as if they never lost their childhood to circumstances.

**Da die Sterne nicht leuchten**

**The stars don't shine**

They both sat on the muddy ground, drenched in the rain under the cloudy sky. Levi didn't know that a dark sky could seem this beautiful

**We are stars and we'll beam on our town**

He realized that what made it all beautiful wasn't the environment, it was the woman beside him.

**Schauten wir das Licht selbst an**

**We looked at the light itself**

Levi and Tiana looked at eachother before Tiana pulled him into a timid kiss

**Sing with hope and the fear will be gone**

As the kiss ended, Levi ran his hands in Tiana's dirty hair and said, "Oi brat, let's get cleaned up."

To be continued

[Author's note: Hey guys, I decided that I will edit the first 8 chapters of my fanfiction because they weren't upto the mark. It will take a while to do it and I will be back with new chapters once I'm done. Much more would be added to the previous chapters, as I will show more of Levi and Tiana's relationship getting developed as I believe I made it all seem sort of sudden. Thanks for all of your attention! Tiana will have her child on chapter 28. I still have a poll on my channel so feel free to vote whether she should have a son or daughter.]


	28. Thaw

[AUTHOR'S NOTE: I have rewritten the first 8 chapters. If you started reading this before 28 October 2019, then please go back and check those out as they affect the entire character buildup of Tiana and gives more depth to Levi's and Tiana's relationship.]

Levi- a hebrew name meaning attached

Ackerman- a german surname for ploughmen

Tiana- a latin name meaning princess

Hertz- a german surname for a kindhearted individual

Levi Ackerman, the captain of the survey corps, was worthy of his surname as his life was as hard as a ploughman's job. The ploughman would carry the weight of his plough like Levi carried the burden of all the lives lost under his command.

Tiana Hertz, squad leader of the survey corps, was born as scum but later lived upto her name as she gave all her subordinates the protection that a princess would give her subjects.

However, both of them failed to live upto one of their names. Levi because he never felt any attachment towards anyone and Tiana because she never had an ounce of kindness inside her. Both of their hearts were frozen solid, locked away from emotions. However, after that fateful first kiss, both of their hearts started to thaw as they both helped eachother realise that they too, are human. However, their hearts completely thawed 6 months after their wedding.

6 months later

"Oi Hanji! Give her something for the pain and do something fucking useful for once!" Levi growled as Tiana almost sprained his hand with a squeeze as she held his hand during another contraction. Levi deeply regretted teaching her those exercises to improve her strength all those months back. "Calm down Levi. I'm not the doctor here and I am not using some experimental pain killer that I made without any human testing on my best friend." Hanji replied to him calmly. Levi was loosing his grip as he wasn't ready for it. When Tiana told him that her water broke at dawn, he panicked more than he ever did in his entire life. More than when Kenny taught him how to use knives by almost killing him. "Sir, we can't allow you to stay here... She will have her delivery soon..." a nurse meekly told the fuming captain, only to receive a deadly glare from him. If looks could kill, the nurse would've been dead by now. "Levi, listen to them. They delivered more babies than most of the survey corp's titan kills." Hanji tried to reason with him. However, that seemed to stop working for the last 8 hours, after Tiana's contractions began. "Levi, as the commander of the survey corps, I command you to get the fuck out of this room." Hanji told him in a commanding tone as she lost all patience with him. He was testing her like a spoilt child for the last 8 hours about almost everything.

Levi fell asleep on the chair in the waiting room. Hanji was sitting beside him, quiet sleepy herself. Atleast she took an afternoon nap yesterday and she felt immensely guilty for giving a huge pile of paperwork to Levi the same day. He had been working all day and wasn't able to sleep at night too as Tiana's contractions started at dawn. Buying their home at Trost was a great decision as the hospital was nearby as Tiana had a hard time riding a horse to get there. Both Levi squad and Tiana squad was there except Marie, who apparently had a headache. Hanji personally never liked Marie either and she agreed with Levi about the fact that this girl was trying to double cross Tiana. However, Hanji saw why Tiana refused to let her go. If she only cooperated, she could've been a good asset to the team. It had been 2 more hours since Hanji got Levi to get out of the delivery room, 10 hours since Tiana's water broke. After these agonising two hours, a nurse entered the waiting room with a pained look but a smile while rubbing her hands. It didn't take long for Hanji to figure out that she offered Tiana to hold her hand, given that her hand looked red. Watching the nurse, Hanji was barely able to tap Levi's shoulder twice as he jerked awake and asked the nurse in panic. "Is Tiana okay?". Hanji realised that Levi took the pained look on the nurse's face as a signal to something is wrong other than the fact that Tiana squeezed the soul out the poor woman's hand. "Yes they both are fine. They are cleaning the baby as we speak. Congratulations Mr Ackerman. It's a boy. Would you like to see them?" The nurse asked with a smile. Hanji noticed that Levi looked paler than usual. His hands were shaking a bit too. "Yes." Levi answered after getting a grip on himself.

Levi followed the nurse into the cabin where Tiana had been transferred. Everyone else followed too. They were made to wait till Tiana was transferred into the cabin but that didn't take too long. As the nurse opened the door and walked in, Levi saw a scene that he, even in his wildest dreams never imagined. There on the bed right opposite to the door laid Tiana, a small white bundle in her arms. She looked tired, almost as if she would pass out but there was a slight smile on her face as her eyes were filled with curiosity and love as she looked at the small bundle. "She doesn't look like herself at all..." Levi internally thought. Yes, Tiana didn't have the look of a ruthless killer anymore. She looked different. "She's giving off the same expression that my mother used to have..." Levi thought curiously as he stepped towards Tiana. That's when he realised why Tiana had such a sudden change. That's because what he saw affected him too. Almost as greatly as it did to Tiana. Inside the small, there was this small baby, with raven hair, eyes the exact copy of Levi, only they were black instead of the steel gray that Levi's eyes hold. "He even got that constipated look" Hanji muttered as she followed Levi towards Tiana. At this point, Levi sat down abruptly on the chair right infront of the bed. His legs were shaking. There was no balance in his body. Years of training, his unbreakable balance, his extreme reflexes, all gone after looking at this sight. "I have a kid..." Levi's voice croaked out suddenly. Both his squad, Tiana's squad, Hanji and Tiana herself looked at him as if they just saw something extremely unexpected happen. It was unexpected after all. Levi, the person who never got his guard down after meeting Kenny, was weak, vulnerable and he didn't bother hiding it. "Levi, are you okay?" Hanji asked Levi before anyone else as everyone was extremely taken aback by Levi's actions. Even Tiana was taken aback as she never saw Levi like this. "Levi... " Tiana tried to say but her voice was raspy as her throat was dry. Without saying any more, Tiana, extended a hand towards his, held his hand gently, trying to make him feel better. "Can I hold...it?" Levi muttered, as he got some grip on himself after Tiana held his hand. "Oi Levi! Don't call your own son it!" Hanji exclaimed. "Hanji, let him be. I'm sure he's having a hard time processing it all. I am too." Tiana told Hanji, her voice still raspy. The nurse helped to take the baby from Tiana's arms and gave it to Levi, teaching how to hold the baby. The baby simply stared at Levi, as if he was hugely disappointed with the fact that he was taken from his mother. Levi just stared at the baby for a few moments. He had a family now. He found someone who gave him the reason to live on and now he has a child, someone who he could give the good childhood he never got. Hesitantly, Levi placed a light kiss on the baby's forehead, surprising the whole group of people in the room, not surprising Tiana too much as she saw Levi showing emotions before. Tiana just smiled, knowing that the man before her was at peace. They both were at peace. Her dreams came true. She now has a family. The both of them finally found happiness. "You guys, I'll contact the Reeves company and get meat for you all. Sasha, you will be cooking and arranging everything at my house. I'll pay for everything." Levi told everyone, looking at them with a small smile on his face. "M-meat? You will buy meat for us?" Sasha stammered before shouting out, "HEICHOU! YOU ARE THE BEST SQUAD LEADER ANYONE CAN POSSIBLY GET!" while crying like a maniac. Everyone else looked happy and thanked Levi for the treat.

"Guys, get out now. I need some rest" Tiana stated after a while. Everyone already took turns to hold the baby and Levi proved to be an overprotective father, as he inspected everyone as they took the baby and snapped at Connie when he made a mistake trying to hold the baby. No one wanted to leave though, as the baby was just too cute to leave alone. After some groans of disappointment, they all left. All except Levi. "What will we name him?" Tiana asked him. She didn't want to bring the topic up infront of the others as she didn't want their contribution in this matter. "What about Farlan?" Levi answered after thinking for a moment. "Sure. It's a nice name. Farlan Ackerman sounds good." Tiana answered with a smile. The baby was asleep on the cot beside the bed. Levi looked at him and sighed. "Yeah. It sounds nice" He answered, a small smile forming on his face. He then walked towards Tiana, patted her head gently and said, "Take some rest. I'll be back soon. I'll have to take a nap myself.". That's when Tiana noticed how tired he looked. Levi was used to being sleep deprived. That's not what tired him. What tired him was the amount of tension he went through for the last 11 hours. He very much needed a nap.

Tiana was woken by the sound of the door of the cabin opening. She had a sound sleep as the nurses took care of Farlan except for the times when he had to be fed. Tiana noticed that it was already evening as she saw the orange light coming from the window into the room. It was Pixis who just entered the room. Ofcourse, it didn't surprise Tiana. After what he did on her wedding, she came to acknowledge the fact that Pixis was completely unpredictable. "I see that I have a grandchild now." Pixis stated with a smirk. "Yes. That part was obvious." Tiana replied with a stoic expression. "Don't be so bland Tiana. I'm just here to see the baby. I haven't seen many newborns in my lifetime." Pixis answered as he walked towards the cot. "Did you ever see me when I was a baby?" Tiana asked in return. Pixis stopped infront of the cot and answered, "No. I didn't.". He tried to hide it but his voice showed some remorse and so, Tiana didn't further question him. "His eyes look a lot like Levi. What's his name?" Pixis asked Tiana, as he looked at the sleeping baby. "Farlan" Tiana answered. "Ah I see." Pixis answered. Before he could say anything more, Levi entered the room. He just came back after getting the best sleep of his life as he felt like the happiest person on earth. However, seeing Pixis there worried him. That guy abandoned Tiana after all. "Should I give you some privacy?" he asked Tiana as he figured that Tiana would like to talk to Pixis alone. After all, their relationship was worse than just shaky and Levi thought that him being there would just make things more awkward. "No it's fine. You can stay" Tiana answered. After Levi entered the room, Pixis told him, "Congratulations on being a father" with a smile. "Thank you." Levi answered curtly. The baby was awake by now as Pixis picked him up. "So, we all will pretend as if we are one big happy family?" Levi asked Pixis, raising an eyebrow. After all, the last thing Levi expected was that he would see Pixis holding his son. "Whatever helps him sleep at night" Tiana scoffed. To that Pixis let out a brief laugh before saying, "No wonder you're my daughter. However, you've got the sharp tongue of your mother...". At that, Tiana stopped him and said, "Don't compare me to that foul woman." with a frown. "Okay. I won't. Anyway, I will have to take my leave now. And Levi, everyone likes to play family at some point. I won't deny that I'm the reason for which Tiana had a horrible life but we can't change that now can we?" Pixis answered before keeping Farlan in the cot and leaving the room. "Are you okay Tiana?" Levi asked Tiana as he didn't know how Tiana felt about the whole thing. "Yeah I'm fine. I personally don't accept him as my father but I'm glad that Farlan will probably have a grandfather. At this point, the only thing I care about is Farlan's happiness as I already found mine" Tiana told him with a smile.

1 month and a week later

Tiana made certain errors in her prediction from 6 months ago. She had her delivery a week before it was predicted. Farlan however, was healthier than ever. She also took more than a month to recover. A month and half to be exact. Thus, the expedition had to be delayed for a week. Levi didn't even have to push Hanji about it because Hanji figured out how long Tiana would actually take to recover a few weeks after she gave birth. She made all the arrangements for the delay of the expeditions by then much to Tiana's disappointment. She however couldn't complain later when she really took a week more to recover. That gave them two weeks to eradicate all titans left in Wall Maria. Hundreds of titans were killed using the executioner from hell before winter. The plan was that there would be two expeditions. Each with 3 days worth of supply. The survey corps would be divided into two groups. One would be travelling from Trost, eastwards, facing every titan on the way and travelling in groups, 2 squads in each, to attract the titans till they reach Utopia. The other would be travelling from Utopia, westwards till they reach Trost. The only two strategists capable of leading a team if something went terribly wrong were Hanji and Tiana, with Hanji clearly being better than Tiana due to her longer experience in battle. Thus, it was decided that Tiana, along with Levi's experience, would lead the group from Trost while Hanji would lead the group from Utopia. The Survey corps had 201 members by now, Levi squad having an extra. The usual squad had 5 members including the squad leader. 20 squads would be there on each group. The formation would be such that every group of two squads would be 10 km apart from eachother. If something went wrong with the formation, red smoke signals would be used. Tiana squad and Levi squad, partnered with two other squads, would be positioned in the middle of the formation so that they could immediately run to help if any other squad is harmed. It would, however, take about an hour to get the formation done as the distance between wall Maria and Wall Rose is 100 km and survey corps horses could run at a speed of 80km/hr. Levi squad will give Armin to Hanji squad so that the other team could use the strength they are lacking due to the absence of either one of Levi, Tiana or a titan shifter, given that, Armin was the most powerful titan shifter on the team. Thus, the team from Trost would have a hundred members while the team from Utopia would have a hundred and one. The survival rate this time, would only be a 50% however as everyone is expected to charge straight at the titans instead of running.

"You all will be using your 3DMG to go and get all the dummies cut. However, from today till the expedition, you'll all be competing against Tiana here. If any of you can get around the forest before her, congratulations, you stand a chance against her if she just got out of a delivery. If any of you gets tangled in your own wire again, I swear I'll kick you out of the survey corps." Levi lectured all the cadets. Tiana joined them as planned today, so that she can brush up her training. The last night, Levi personally took Tiana to check if she can use 3DMG, and Tiana surprised him. She was almost as good as before her pregnancy leave. Sure, she was still rough around some edges, her movements weren't as flawless as it was before, her speed decreased noticeably too but she still was better than all recruits combined. All the cadets were greatly intetested in watching Tiana in action. Tiana was the only person in the entire Survey corps who's 3DMG skills were comparable to Levi's. Everyone knew that and as the new recruits never saw Tiana in action, competing her seemed like a very good sport to them. Defeating Tiana meant coming second to the strongest in humanity. Levi squad and Tiana squad however knew that it wasn't possible. "Everyone, assume positions!" Levi commanded and everyone ran to the line drawn infront of the forest. They all stood in line, ready to take off. "And go!" Levi instructed and everyone took off. The new recruits were surprised to see Tiana getting way ahead of everyone at a speed that was impossible for them to reach. "What the hell? She isn't even using too much gas..." one of the recruits exclaimed. Tiana was out of their sight in no time and as they found the dummies, every one of them had a perfect slice cut off it's nape. There were 16 dummies in total. It took the others 30 minutes to find and cut down every single one of them and getting out while Tiana did the same in 13 minutes. Levi squad and Tiana squad took 25 minutes while Mikasa took 18. "Good work out there." Levi told Tiana as she flew out of the forest. "Well, I usually am faster than that." Tiana answered, as she got her blades in the sheathes in the 3DMG. "Yes. I know that. If you didn't just have a delivery last month, I'd have been disappointed." Levi answered to that. Tiana just gave a "mhhm" for reply before she spoke again. "I'm not so sure if leaving Farlan with Hanji was a good idea..." Tiana muttered. "Well, he'll be fine." Levi answered casually. "Are you sure about that? Hanji did try to make him walk at the age of three weeks for her experiments... " Tiana muttered remembering the time when Hanji tried to test if Levi's genetics had something that made them become physically developed more easily than others given that all the other known ackermans, Kenny and Mikasa, had good fighting abilities. Ofcourse, Hanji's experiments didn't work and Farlan got hurt and cried, which sounded more angry than pained, thus scaring Hanji to death as Levi gave Hanji a death glare once it happened. After all, Levi did try to kill a commander before.

5 days later

"Hanji, the milk is in the cupboard in the kitchen with the bottle. Boil the bottle before feeding Farlan. The nappies, shirts and blankets are in the third drawer in the wardrobe of mine and Levi's room. If Farlan wets himself, just take anything from there. I kept everything packed in a bag which is also in the wardrobe so that you can bring it when you come to the headquarters. And Hanji, don't try to do any experiments. I'm trusting you on this." Tiana explained Hanji. "You explained all of that to me every single day of this week you know." Hanji mentioned in a flat tone. "Well, I was just reminding you..." Tiana started before Hanji stopped her and said in a light tone, "Come on Tiana! I literally lead the survey corps! Farlan will be fine. Don't worry so much.". "Yeah... I guess I'm a bit too paranoid... Thanks for all the help Hanji." Tiana answered with a smile. "Yeah yeah I know. You'll be late for training if you keep trying to remind me stuff now. So, get out." Hanji pushed Tiana out of the house.

Tiana POV

When I reached the survey corps headquarter and walked in the training grounds, Levi was already there. "You're late. You're doing 50 laps after training." he told me with a frown. Yes, I obviously never got special treatment from him in case of work related matters. I appreciated it though as our personal lives shouldn't interfere with work. The female cadets looked happy with the fact that I got laps. Well, it doesn't matter. It isn't like they have the guts to make a move on Levi. "Well, assume positions now. I'll be following you all." Levi commanded everyone. I joined everyone infront of the starying line. "And go!" Levi instructed as we all shot forward. "Make as less moves as possible. Preserve gas. Find the locations of the dummies and cut them." my mind kept repeating as I sped towards the forest. The slightest movements caught my attention as some recruits were left to move the dummies. One, two, three... My mind counted as I kept making perfect cuts on every dummy. Just as I landed outside the forest, I found no one. Ofcourse, Levi mentioned that he will be following us in the next training exercise. He probably is with the other recruits. After about 20 more minutes, everyone else appeared with Levi. Levi looked at me, his eyes showing appreciation. "You reached your previous records. Your moves are as good as before now. Good job." he complimented before turning to the new recruits and saying, "You all couldn't improve any more than 30 minutes in six fucking months and she did the same fucking job in 11 minutes by a week after having a delivery about a month and half ago. This is why I don't train brats like you all. I don't know how Shadis keeps his cool with you all.". He said all of that calmly with a stoic expression but the girls in the group almost started crying already. Levi then turned to my squad and his own squad and said, "You all did okay. There's still room for improvement though.". They all saluted and Levi motioned them to be at ease before looking at me and saying, "Well, what are you waiting for? Go get the laps done."

2 hours and 30 minutes later

I finally was done with the laps. Hanji came by with Farlan and saw me doing laps in the training grounds. 400 meters each lap. About 20 km. "And here I thought shorty was getting soft..." Hanji shook her head as she ran beside me carrying Farlan when she found me. "Well, he honestly got softer than before. I remember him shouting at me back when I took a minute to get a dummy down. Now he's saying his squad that they did a good job after they took 25 minutes to get 16 dummies." I answered. No wonder they weren't improving. I went to my office to get the extra uniform I usually keep there incase if the one I'm wearing gets dirty. With that, I went to the female bathrooms and took a bath, changed my uniform, went to my office to grab the stack of paperworks Hanji told me that she would leave in my office and went for Levi's office. I knocked on his door and heard his voice saying, "State your name and business.". "It's Tiana." I answered. "Come in" I heard his voice, now sounding softer and went in his office. His table had three stacks of paperwork, his face showing the stress that he was on. I sat down with my own stack and started working silently, helping Levi with his paperwork sometimes while he helped me with mine. When I was done, he still had two stacks to complete. I looked at him, he looked tired. Thus, I got up, walked towards his chair and went under the table. Back when I was about 6 months pregnant, I had this phase when I was horny all the time and that's when I found out that getting a blowjob while he's working calms Levi down when he has to do a lot of paperwork. Thus, this little tradition started where I helped him out every time I saw him struggling with work. I heard a sigh of content from him as I took his dick in my mouth, swirling my tongue around it's tip. I felt his hand on my hair, gently pushing me on his length. I didn't give him the chance to guide me as I started going all out on him, taking all of his length in my mouth and bobbing my head on it, my tongue working at it's tip the entire time. The gentle touch on my hair turned into a harsh grab as Levi took control, making my movements even faster. I heard Levi's breathing getting disoriented and suddenly, there was a knock on the door. I stopped my assult on his dick so that he could answer the door without having any distractions. "State name and business" I heard him say with a flat monotoned voice. He had this way of keeping his body entirely under control, which fascinated me to bits. "It's Cadet Schwarz. I need to talk to you, heichou." I heard Marie's voice. What is that girl upto? "Come in" Levi answered as I heard the door open and her footsteps coming into the room. "Schwarz, the last time you were in my office, as much as I can recall, Tiana gave you a warning about your attire. Why are you violating the dress code again?" I heard Levi ask her. That's it. I know very well what she's trying to do. I'd have to write a report against her and probably give her a talk about backing off from my husband. "Heichou, I will get straight into point. I only joined the survey corps for you. When I heard that they were taking members in the Special operations squad, I thought it was your squad. However, I wasn't lucky enough and ended up in hers. Heichou, I can keep you much happier than she ever can. Just..." Levi stopped her before she said anything more. "Listen, what you're doing is highly inappropriate. I'm a married man and I'm in a happy marriage. I even have a kid. Even if I wasn't married, I would never leave Tiana for anyone. So, I'll tell this to you for the last time, stop embarrassing yourself." Levi answered, in a stoic voice. "Is that right heichou? Then why does your face look so flustered? You know what heichou? You can be with your wife. She doesn't have to know what happens behind closed doors..." Marie continued. I quietly stuffed Levi's penis in his pants and started buttoning him up when I heard Levi's surprised and slightly disgusted voice saying, "What the fuck do you think you're doing?". To that, Marie replied, "I'm just trying to show you exactly what got you so flustered. Isn't that what you...". "Enough" I spoke up, stopping Marie. I got up from under the table and Marie clearly understood why Levi was flustered after seeing my messy hair. "Marie, go to my office. We need to discuss your expulsion from the survey corps." I told her with a cold tone. "Expulsion? But I haven't broken any rules. By the way, isn't the commander the only person who can expell someone from the survey corps? You can't do that!" Marie scoffed. It was time to put her in her place. "Well, if you don't trust me on this, you can ask Levi if I was nominated to be the commander of the survey corps only a few months ago." I told her, my tone getting colder by the second. Marie looked at Levi and Levi simply answered, "She's right. See, I told you to stop this bullshit. Even if Tiana didn't take actions, I would have.". "Actions? But I haven't broken any rule!.." I stopped her at that and told her, "Marie, five buttons of your shirt are opened. You just ignored a direct warning from a superior. If you think I didnt write a report on you violating the dress code before, you are wrong. Ofcourse, that alone can't get you kicked out of the survey corps but I also have further complains against you, which we will discuss in my office. So, go.". "No! I refuse to go!" Marie made a bitch face at me. "You refuse to go? Well, you see, unfortunately as long as you are a survey corps soldier, I will be your superior. You will have to follow my orders or else the consequences would be severe." I told her in a commanding voice as she retreated from the office. "Thanks for having my back, Levi." I told him as he looked at me with worry. "No, it's fine. Just don't kill her." he told me, his eyes showing suspicion. "Don't worry. I won't kill her. I'll just ruin her career." I answered before getting out of Levi's office and going to mine.

Marie was already in the office. "Well, let's discuss your insubordination." I told her before sitting on my chair. "Sit down. You'd prefer not to fall on the floor after I tell you the few things I'm about to say." I told her, motioning to the chair infront of me. She sat and I started. "Do you know what happened to the last person who tried to take Levi from me?" I asked her. She looked uncomfortable at this point as she knew that I had her cornered. "No?" she answered. "Her name was Petra Ral. She died on the 57th expedition. The female titan stomped on her. Surprisingly, the female titan was able to do that in my presence. The next expedition is coming soon and who knows, maybe you would be eaten by a titan too and I wouldn't be able to save you." I stopped. I saw her face losing colours. Just the reaction I wanted to see. "You see, as your superior, I had to report every time you almost got the squad killed to the commander. The commander herself questioned your worth and I have been defending you for the whole time. However, it seems like you aren't fit to be in the survey corps anyway, even if I don't consider the fact that you tried to fuck my husband. Honestly, I shouldn't be telling you all these. I should just let you die on the next expedition. You just proved to me how worthless you are today. However, ever since Farlan was born, I couldn't shake this feeling off me. I don't want to make your family suffer. I know how your mother would feel if you die. So, I would give you a second option. If I talk to the commander and expel you from the survey corps, that would be the end of your career in the military. If I don't do anything, you will die. If you give me a letter asking for a transfer to the Garrison or the Military police, your career would be saved, you would live and I could keep you out of my relationship. Now, go back to your room and decide what you want. I will be expecting a letter from you. You're dismissed." I explained to her in my monotoned voice. With that, she left the room without a word. I rested my head on the head rest of the chair. "Fuck.. Farlan really changed everything..." I wondered. After all, I didn't feel like the cold hearted person I was anymore.

To be continued


	29. 67th expedition

Tiana POV

"You mean to say that you managed to convince Marie to transfer from the survey corps just two days before the expedition?" Hanji asked me with disbelief. "Yes" I simply answered. "Well, we don't even have time for replacement... Why exactly did you do that? And don't bring up the reports on her endangering the squad. If that bothered you, you would've done this earlier." Hanji asked in a flat tone. "I thought I could make her obedient. However, if she has the guts to try to open her shirt and try to seduce my husband, I don't think she would ever listen to me. I need obedient soldiers in my squad, not people who try to steal their superior's husband." I answered with the same flat tone. "Huhhhhhh? That bitch did that? Oh sorry.. I keep forgetting that I'm the commander now and I should be.. Ahem... A bit more reasonable but yes, Marie will be transferred to the Garrison tomorrow as getting the paperworks done would take time. I have sent the papers to Commander Pixis already before talking to you because I knew that you must have a reason for making this decision." Hanji answered giving me a mischievous glint. I gave her a victorious smirk of my own because I got an useless burden off my shoulder. I went back to the stable and saddled my horse to go back home. Hanji was in Utopia district with her squad. She left for Utopia 3 days before the expedition. Marie gave me her letter requesting transfer only a few hours after the talk we had at my office. I left for Utopia with Levi and Farlan that evening. Levi and I had dropped off Farlan at Historia's Orphanage on our way to Utopia. It was an 11 hour journey and so, we reached Utopia at dawn. The first thing we did was send the letter to Hanji's office by a cadet, take a small nap, had breakfast and went straight to Hanji's office. It was already afternoon when I was called to talk to Hanji. We already were done with lunch by then. "So, how did that go?" Levi asked me. He was already in the stable when I arrived, his horse ready to go. "It was alright. Hanji approved of the transfer. We just have to go back and I'll see that everything goes smoothly." I answered, as I saddled my horse. Levi answered with a "hmm" and was silent till I was done with the saddling. "Do you want to see how Farlan is doing on our way?" Levi asked me. I personally felt uneasy not having Farlan near me, given that I spent every second of my time home with him. I knew that Levi felt odd too as he always looked after Farlan whenever I was cooking or cleaning or busy with something. "Yeah. That's a good idea." I muttered as we both got up on our horses and galloped out of the stable and out of the scout regiment branch.

"TIANA SAN!" the kids in the orphanage yelled happily as they ran towards me. I didn't see them for a while and so, didn't mind when they all tackled me to the ground. "Oi calm down! I already have to fight titans and having to fight you kids now aren't helping!" I told them trying to sound irritated but the smile on my face betrayed me. "Oi brats. Get off her." Levi walked towards them and they all got off me immediately. Obviously, they were all scared of him. "Tiana! Welcome back!" a smiling Historia came towards me from inside the orphanage as we stood at the yard. She had Farlan in her arms. "Yeah... I just had to see Farlan before going." I muttered with a smile as I took Farlan from her arms. "He's doing very well so far. The kids love him." Historia smiled at me. "Thank you for taking care of him. I'd not trust anyone about this besides Hanji and Mikasa." I answered her with a smile. Levi was already beside me and took Farlan from me. "We will be late if we delay more now." he muttered, holding Farlan. "Yeah... We have to keep going..." I muttered sadly. I wasn't ready to leave Farlan alone for so long, that for a life threatening expedition. I trusted mine and Levi's ability to survive though. I kissed Farlan's forehead before Levi handed him to historia again. We bade eachother farewell before going back on our way.

The next day

I woke up at dawn. Levi woke up a little later after I was done making breakfast. The expedition would start today. After taking a bath, a very long one since we won't be able to do that for 3 days. We both dressed in our new uniforms, ones that were heavily insulated to protect us from the bitter cold. Green overcoats with a fur lining inside, our usual white pants as they are warm enough and fingerless gloves to protect our hands from frostbite but retain the perfect grip on our swords. Our boots were good enough to keep the cold out of our feet. Wearing earmuffs weren't an option as that would hinder our ability to hear clearly and decrease survival rate further. It was assumed that all the titans that aren't already killed are either abnormals or ones that were too weak to travel to the executioner from hell or didn't go there by chance. Dealing with abnormals are much much harder than normals. The districts in wall Maria were safe as the gates were sealed in every district, even in Shiganshina. That bastard beast titan did that one thing right. It would take us 20 hours to travel half of wall Maria as we intend to, however, we cannot leave one spot missed. There's a chance that we could encounter the beast titan, the cart titan and Reiner. We just couldn't afford to leave a small area untouched. We could fight for 10 hours before the sun sets. The first expedition is solely to take out any titans, not the shifters, however, you can never be too careful. We usually kept our horses at a small shed we made in our yard. After saddling the horses, we galloped towards the headquarters, I went to the supply room to get mine and Levi's gear. We were a bit late as Levi insisted on getting clean properly and bathed for nearly an hour. Levi was assembling all the soldiers in our team and asked me to get his gear for him. Just as I was at the entrance of the supply room, I saw Marie getting out of there. "Oi Marie. What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be going to the Garrison barracks?" I asked her with suspicion. "Yes. I was taking my gear." she answered simply before she left. "Why didn't she do it earlier? Was this intentional? Did she mess with mine or Levi's gear? No... I did her a huge favour by not ruining her career. Anyone with common sense knows that there's still a high chance that I'd survive with a messed up gear, a higher chance for Levi. No one in the right mind would try to sabotage my gear. That's practically ruining their lives by themselves." I thought as I strapped onto my gear and walked out of the room with Levi's. There wasn't any time to check the gear now. There's 30 minutes left till 6am. We need to be going now.

"Listen you all. I will be repeating the plan once again. Once we all get in position, the team furthest, the one near the wall Maria would shoot flare signals. The closest to them would do the same and it will go on till it reaches the members closest to trost. The same will be done in the opposite way to indicate the start of the expedition. Levi heichou and I would be in the middle. If squad 1-4 faces any major problem, notify Levi heichou as you all are under him. He will be in squad 5, closest to you. Squad 7-9 would do the same but with me. I'll be in squad 6. Use smoke signals to contact any of us the same way we would start the expedition. If the issue isnt major, use red signals to ask back up from the closest team. If the issue is major, use black signals and we will be there as soon as possible. If a snow storm starts, retreat immediately near wall Rose. We will be moving in a straight line and so, we will all be able to meet at one point in that case. The teams furthest from wall Rose will have to cover a distance of about 1508km in this expedition. We would have to adjust our speed with that. Every one hour, we would shoot green smoke signals that would be used at the start of the expedition too to help everyone detect each squad's position. Speed will be adjusted according to that. The signals will start from the squad closest to wall Maria, and the other team will adjust to their speed and position and shoot a signal again and so forth. The formation cannot be broken at any cost. We will travel 503 km each day, search every spot for titans. It would generally take about 7 hours to travel that distance each day but we need to make sure no titan slips our hand. We would take a look inside every city, every building, and make sure no titan escapes our sight. The supply wagons will be stationed with squad 5 and 6 as those are the most heavily guarded squads. Squad 1 and squad 2 will be moving together when we are near the districts and will seperate as the districts end. Just one more advice to you all, stay alive." I lectured the soldiers. We were on top of Wall Rose, a cold wind blowing and a somewhat calm atmosphere. The place outside the walls were white with snow. Winter expeditions had a different advantage towards us. The sunlight level is lower during winter and thus, titans will be less strong. Taking them down in open ground will be easier. However, there's no telling for sure if the new recruits can do that. After all, things like that come from experience. "Let the expedition begin!" I shouted as we got down the wall with everyone else and were on our horses. I wondered how uncle Erwin felt when he did that. This feeling of fear, guilt, determination and excitement... Did he feel all that too? As I was the strategist in our team, Hanji left the entire team under my command. Levi was in charge of keeping everything in control and our biggest weapon. His experience would help me make quick decisions about unfamiliar scenarios. Basically, Levi was controlling my decisions with his experience while I controlled the team with my strategies. This was the beginning of the 67th expedition.

3 hours later

My squad was in position, traveling in the middle of the formation. We didn't encounter any titan yet and I was glad to know that Hanji's predictions may have been right. Most of the titans were killed by the executioner from hell. The survey was going well, however, squad 8 would be travelling in a village as we speak. They will have to search every building there. We decreased our speeds as the map says us to do so, to let squad 8 pick up the pace with us within the next hour. However, just as I thought everything was going smooth, a black smoke signal was detected from squad 7. "Diana, take command of the squad. I'll go take a look at that." I instructed my second in command and charged towards squad 7. It took me about 7 and half minutes to reach squad 7 only to find that another smoke signal had been shot in squad 8. Damn it... They couldn't take the abnormal even with perfect maneuvering grounds? It took a total of 15 mins to reach squad 8 and two people were already dead there. 5 abnormals were chasing them and they were trying their best to avoid them. Obviously they couldnt hold off that many abnormals. Just as I looked back, there was a titan standing next to the building behind me. An abnormal. It had a grostique smile and dived at me but I jumped away at immediately. I went to use my 3DMG to get away from it but the strings shot out and away from the equipment, suddenly breaking with the force. I took a quick look at the torn metallic string and it was clear that it was cut. Marie sabotaged my equipment. The titan dived at me again and jumped away at the last moment, gripping it's hair to use it as a rope and used the force on it as the titan got up to fly upwards and slashing the titan's nape barely, using the blades on the titan's back to slow my fall down. I met squad 7 on my way there and I needed quick reinforcements. Not just recruits, I needed Levi here as getting 4 abnormals without a 3DMG was impossible. I shot a black smoke signal, hoping that squad 7 would understand the emergency. I saw squad 7 doing the same thankfully and I knew my squad was smart enough to inform Levi. With that, I tried my best to hide from the abnormals, that the three remaining members from squad 8 was keeping busy and I searched for the bodies of the two deceased members so that I could take one of their gear.

Levi POV

We have only encountered one abnormal so far and it seemed like shitty glasses did a good job predicting the amount of titan we could face. Things were going pretty well till I saw a black flare being shot from squad 6. Tiana's squad needs help? How is that possible? "Mikasa, take command." I commanded Mikasa as she was the most capable out of all my squad members and rushed towards Tiana's squad. After reaching there, I found no Titans, however, Tiana was nowhere to be seen. "Oi, where's Tiana? What's with the black flare?" I asked her second in command. "Heichou, Tiana-san went to check on a black flare that came from squad 7. They shot another black flare just now. I assumed that Tiana san asked for backup." she explained. I noticed that black flare too. "Okay. I'll be going then." I told her before galloping to squad 7. No titans were there and I could see a black flare from squad 8. They should be in a village now. That's probably where they encountered titans. I didn't waste any time and sped my way to squad 8. It took me about 23 minutes to reach and I found three recruits barely hanging onto their lives, trying to keep away from 4 abnormals. Tiana was nowhere to be seen. I didn't waste my time and sped towards the titans and just as I tried to use my 3DMG, the wires broke when they were shot. I was taken aback by that. I probably maintain my gear better than anyone else in the survey corps. What the fuck just happened? Before I could react, an abnormal caught me from behind. I was struggling in its hand when the titan suddenly fell flat on its face, dropping me. I landed on my feet to see Tiana, running at me. "Levi, Marie sabotaged my gear. I'm guessing she did the same with yours. I had my doubts that's why I was able to escape the titans. There's a body with a 3DMG attached to it 2 houses from here. I got mine there too. I'll hold them off. Hurry!" Tiana briefed me on the situation and I left her to handle it while I ran towards the location she pointed me to only to find a titan standing there. However, it was a 2 meter class. It sped at me as it was an abnormal and I got up the stairs of the house next to me, used the railing to jump high enough and cut the titan's nape flawlessly. I could see another 12 meter class drop in the distance as I reached the bodies. One of them didn't have a gear. I assumed that's the one Tiana is using. I took the gear from the other soldier and strapped it on quickly and joined the fight. Tiana killed one more titan and assisted me to get the fifth one. "You guys are very less in number. I'll send someone from my squad. Fall into formation for now." I commanded the 3 soldiers left as Tiana called both of our horses. "Hai!" the soldiers saluted before I motioned them to be at ease and got on my horse as Tiana got on hers. We travelled together towards our squads as I told her, "You should've just expelled her out of the survey corps." "Yes. I know. I figured that she would take the chance I gave her and use it properly. I'll have to talk to Hanji about it and get her a criminal offence." Tiana answered, with a grave expression on her face. "It'll be alright. See you later." I told her as I parted from her after she reached her squad.

Day 2 of expedition

We were closing in to the titan forest near Karanese district. Only mine and Tiana's squad will be going through the forest as our positioning was like that. The peaceful atmosphere didn't last for too long after we entered the forest. It seemed like hoardes of abnormals were in there, just waiting for someone to enter. My squad, including me shifted to ODM gear, getting as many titans as I can. I was getting them all flawlessly while Mikasa was a big help too. The others were struggling. There were about 40 titans in this forest and after I was done with about 20 and my squad got 10 more. I heard the sound of one more ODM gear and Tiana came to assist. I was fascinated by the graceful moves she was making with her body, the flawless use of ODM gear and the clean cuts she made. She moved in perfect harmony with me, assisted me in my kills and took assist from my moves too. She made me feel like both a proud mentor and a husband. She got 4 more titans, Mikasa got one as I took down the 5 remaining titans. "Tiana, what are you doing here? Where's your squad?" I asked her as she landed. "Well, we entered the forest before you, cleaned up about 28 titans. I had to take down most of it but the squad got like 7 of them. Some titans fled in your direction and I followed them and got here and helped you out." she explained. This is why I loved her. One person who doesn't have to be the damsel in distress was all I've ever asked for. The rest of the expedition was more or less peaceful.

Day 3, end of expedition

The expedition was over as we reached Utopia district at evening. I had a titan kill of 54 as I had to assist the squads under me a few times. Tiana's titan kill was 43 as she had to assist the squads under her too. All squads encountered heavy numbers of titans and apparantly my training helped them. 20 people from our team died. A total of 177 titans were killed. We got 5 more black flares in the entire expedition. I got 3 and Tiana got 2. Most of the titans were abnormals as Hanji predicted. There were a few titans that were too deformed to move fast enough and we killed them easily. It was the same as every other expeditions. The parents of the dead demanding answer. This time, Tiana was the victim as she made all the plans and she was in charge. "YOU GOT MY SON KILLED! HOW COULD YOU! YOU DIDN'T EVEN BRING HIS BODY! ARE YOU EVEN HUMAN?" a woman was shouting at Tiana. Tiana's head was bowed. I didn't know what she was thinking. "That's enough. Your son was useful for the recapture of Wall Maria. He killed a titan before going out. I'm sure he won't appreciate it if you call the people he gave up his life for monsters." I told the woman, putting a hand on Tiana's shoulder but she shrugged it off. "Levi, I need to deal with this on my own." she told me before facing the woman. "I am very sorry for your loss. I truely am. Your son was very brave. I wasn't there when he died but I heard from his squadmates about how he took down a titan as Levi heichou says so. Levi heichou tried his best to save as many people as possible and so did I. I'm a mother myself, so I know how it feels. If something happened to my son, I would feel as if death for myself is better. I won't judge you for being angry. You have every right to be angry. It was your son who laid his life on line. No mother would ever want their children to do that. I understand that. If calling me the monster helps you ease your pain, I will gladly take that name for myself." she told the woman, who now looked at her with surprise. The woman broke down and started crying before sitting on the streets. Tiana kneeled infront of her and rested her arm on the woman's shoulder. "I'm sorry. No one deserves to die. Your son deserved a better leader. I'm sorry we weren't good enough." Tiana told the woman, her eyes showing remorse but her face as hard as a stone. "Tiana, we have to go and report to HQ and pick Farlan up." I told her as I stood beside her. Tiana got up and got on her horse. The other parents of the dead saw this scene and didn't question Tiana anymore. They understood the message she wanted to give. The bodies that could be recovered were distributed before we went to pick Farlan up and travelled to Trost. We reached Trost at 3AM. I held Farlan to my chest the whole time as I was warmer than Tiana. Farlan wore warm clothes but still, you couldn't be more careful. Tiana left for home with Farlan while I went to report to Hanji on her behalf. Our team was lucky that most of the abnormals we faced were concentrated towards mine and Tiana's squad. Hanji's team lost 40 people. Infact, they had to stop at Krolva district to take in reinforcements from the Garrison. It wasted time but was effective in getting rid of all the titans on their path. "So, we have to make do with 140 scout members for the next expedition." I stated, raising an eyebrow. "No. We will take support from Garrison. They will send their most elite soldiers with us. The next expedition won't be too hard as we took down most of the titans left anyway. By the way, what did you want to tell me about Marie?" Hanji asked me before I explained the whole situation of her destroying our gears. "She actually did that? Well, I'll talk to Pixis personally about it. I'm sure he will take action as he's Tiana's father. Other than that, he was never much fond of indiscipline except for when it comes to drinking." Hanji answered. "Wait, you know?" I asked her, quiet surprised. "Yes ofcourse I do. She told me on your wedding day. Didn't she mention it to you?" Hanji asked me. "Well, she might have forgot. Things weren't very steady back then as she was pregnant and all." I muttered. So Hanji knows. I'll have to ask Tiana about it. "Well, I'll have to make reports now. Being commander is such a pain... It even affects my titan research... Anyway, you may leave." Hanji told me and I left. Atleast we were all safe for one more day. The 67th expedition was over.

To be continued

[AUTHOR'S NOTE:Tiana and Levi left from Trost to go to utopia at 7PM and reached Utopia at 6AM. Tiana was called in Hanji's office at 2PM and they reached Trost at 11 PM that day.

Given that Orvud district is 80 km far from the Reiss Chapel, and that the distance between wall Rose and Wall sina is 130 km, it could be assumed that every district is 20 km long, and the distance between the reiss Chapel and Utopia district is 30km. It could be assumed that Historia's orphanage is near the Reiss Chapel as she owns many lands there and possibly other lords had land there too. So, Levi and Tiana would reach Historia's Orphanage by 24 minutes.

Cold hearts will contain 2 more chapters before I officially end this fanfiction. I want to end this on a good note and make a sequel after the attack on titan manga is completed. ]


	30. 68th expedition

The plan for the 68th expedition was made with the help of Eren's father's diaries. He mentioned that the port used my the Marleyans was the closest to Shiganshina. With Hanji's calculations, it was certain that if the beast titan, cart titan and Reiner was still in wall Maria, they would most likely be in Shiganshina as it would be their easiest escape route. However, to be safe, an elite squad would be sent to each district of Wall Maria. For the 68th expedition, Armin was assigned under Tiana squad, who would search the Shiganshina district. Originally, Hanji preferred Levi squad to do it, but, Tiana insisted to let her do it for personal reasons. Mikasa and Jean from Levi squad would form a squad of their own, with Mikasa's strength and Jean's ability to bring a situation under control. Two elite garrison soldiers would be assigned with them too as their squad is the weakest. They would be scouting the least likely area where the enemies could be camping, Hammerfell district. It's by far the coldest region in the entire walls and the destroyed abandoned villages make the place unlivable as there is no food or shelter left in that area. Diana from Tiana's squad would be assigned to Levi squad in behalf of Armin. They would be scouting Stohll district, while Hanji and her new squad would be scouting Helgen district. The expedition in the inner walls would be taken over by none other than the commander of Garrison himself, given that approximately all the titans in wall Maria are killed. The same formation as the last expedition would be used, only, everyone would start at Trost and go to the opposite direction and eventually meet at Utopia. However, unlike the last expedition, this one would be taking place for 4 days instead of 3 as it was decided that the Garrison and Survey corps will take a look at the area twice, with 10 hours of constant scouting each day. After reaching Utopia, both teams would travel in opposite directions again till they meet at Trost again. The squads that are sent to the districts would return by two days and report to the supreme commander. If a squad doesn't come back, the whole battalion would be sent to that district. Marie Schwarz was immediately expelled from the Garrison as soon as Hanji's letter reached Pixis. There were speculations among the Garrison about how someone can be expelled in a few hour's notice when the process usually takes aleast a day, but, they didn't know that Pixis took such quick measures because Tiana's safety was compromised. Like always, he took measures for the betterment of his daughter, out of love, but in a way that wasn't visible. This was his way of caring. A criminal offence against Marie Schwarz was charged and she was taken into custody by the military police. Her trial was to take place after the expeditions were over. Retaking Wall Maria was far more important at this point.

This expedition started off like the previous, only, Levi squad went towards Karanese, Mikasa squad went towards Utopia, Hanji squad went towards Krovla the day before the expedition. Tiana squad remained at Trost. The expedition started at 6am sharp, similar to the last expedition. This time, commander Pixis was leading the expedition. The commanding squad and the most elite squad was placed in the middle for backup, similar to the last expedition. Pixis commanded one group while an elite garrison soldier was in charge of commanding the other. After the expedition started, Tiana galloped towards Shiganshina, her heart thumping vigorously. She had a very personal reason to want to go there. She needed to see Erwin's grave.

Tiana POV

3 months back

"Tiana, it's too dangerous. You're not going." Levi spoke sternly towards me. We were at the fifth expedition planning meeting. The first four meetings were held to discuss formation and this one, the last one, was held to discuss the squad distribution on the 68th expedition. Levi, ofcourse, was against the idea of me taking my squad to Shiganshina right as I mentioned it. "Levi is right, Tiana. Right now, you're a completely variable factor. After you have given birth, there is no way of telling if you would be fit enough to even go on the expeditions, let alone the most dangerous zone in wall Maria." Hanji told me, eyeing the huge bulge on my stomach. "I know what I'm talking about. Just give me a chance. You can make backup plans in case if I can't make it. It's very important to me." I tried to reason with Hanji. "Tiana, don't make decisions with emotions..." Hanji tried to intervene but I stopped her. "I'm the last person to make emotional decisions, Hanji. Levi can judge if I'm fit enough to go. Levi can't handle both Eren and Armin at the same time. The military police is already bringing questions about Armin's titan shifting powers. Place him under me and the trouble will be solved. Levi showed that he could control Eren and I can control Armin because he owes me my uncle's life. If I'm not fit enough, you can put plan B in action and Levi could go there instead if me." I explained. Everyone was silent for a while before Hanji spoke. "Well, that seems fair enough..." she said but was interrupted by Levi. "This is bullshit. I can't allow a wounded soldier on battle. I made that mistake once already." he stated in an angered voice. "Levi, can we discuss this alone?" I asked him calmly. "Okay, you two discuss this and get into a plan by the next meeting. Everyone is dismissed." Hanji declared, clearly trying to break the tension in the room between Levi and I.

"There's nothing to discuss. You're not going." Levi stated in a stoic tone as we entered our home. "Levi, you're not making all the decisions. I'm one of the four commanding squad leaders, so, I get to have some say in this whole thing. Sure, you're my superior but even Hanji agreed with me. Don't you think you're being a bit too posessive?" I asked him in an exasperated tone. "Why are you being so difficult? Can't you just try to understand why I'm doing what I'm doing?" Levi asked me, clearly angry. "Levi, I understand that the last time you let a wounded soldier go to battle, he died. That doesn't mean that I'll die too. I even proposed that I wouldn't go unless I'm in proper shape, and, don't even dare to say that I'm not fit enough when I am." I told him, getting angrier by the second.

Levi was sitting at the chair completely opposite to me and furthest from me on the dining table with a cup of tea. I, myself was drinking tea too. We just had a big fight over the topic and decided it was best to solve this over tea instead of trying to hurt eachother with words. "So, why do you object to this?" I broke the deafening silence. "Because I don't want you to die on me." Levi shrugged. "We already established the fact that I won't die if I'm fit enough. Why do you still object to it?" I asked him with patience. "Tiana, my mother died on me when I was a kid. I know how horrible that felt. I don't want that to happen to my kid. I'll be too devastated to take proper care of the kid myself. Besides, I don't know anything about taking care of a kid. I'm sure a kid living up here won't have the same lifestyle as a kid from the underground. If you're not there, how would I know if I am to teach my kid how to use a knife or not? Or if I am to fight with him to help him survive? Or if I am to make him try to get his own food? I just don't know how this works. You spent some of your childhood up here, Tiana. You are the only person who can guide me to be a good father. Why don't you understand this? If you die, it would be devastating for both me and our child." Levi tried to explain. "Levi, I promise, I won't die on you. Even if I have to abandon all of my comrades, I will come back alive. I promise you that. Please, have some faith in me. Just this one time. Please?" I told him in a soft voice. I know how much he loves me and I know that he wants me safe, but, I just have to do it. "You'll save yourself no matter what?" he muttered. I got up from my spot, walked towards him, sat on his lap, cupped his cheeks and raised his worried face towards mine. "I will. I promise." I whispered to him. "Okay. I'll think about it." he answered with a frown before pulling me into a kiss. After he broke the kiss, I smirked at him and said, "Heichou, seems like you're getting soft". "Don't push me, brat." Levi grunted which made me chuckle. "Mhhm? You do know that I'm strong right? I could stab you right now if I want to." I answered with a sly smile. "Oh would you now? As much as I'm aware, you don't have any weapon on you." he answered with a challenging look. "But you have one on you don't you, heichou?" I muttered, the smirk never leaving my face as I sneaked the knife he always carries with him and with a fast movement, making the tip of it touch his throat. "So you weren't completely oblivious about stealing back when I gave you knife training..." Levi stated sardonically before snatching the knife from me and putting the knife on my throat. "You've become such a minx now, Mrs Ackerman. Glad I taught you well." he muttered with a smooth voice as he breathed on my neck before pushing me away and saying, "Get off me now. I have two big piles of paperwork to deal with and I will have to write a written document about letting you go to the expedition if you're fit enough.". I got off him immediately with a smile.

Present day (Expedition day 1)

We reached Shiganshina in about one and a half hours. There were half decayed body parts scattered everywhere, poking out of the snow as we travelled towards the completely plummeted villages near the inner Wall. Everyone in my squad except myself and Armin looked pale, shocked by the violence. Armin witnessed this already and I caused enough death to get used to it. The door to the inner gate was completely blocked with boulders. "Search the houses that aren't already destroyed first. Search the walls then and if there's no sign of the enemy, we will leave our horses to search the city." I commanded and thus, everyone went to work.

It was afternoon when we were done with the search. There was no sign of enemies. "Let's take a lunch break before getting back to work." I commanded the squad. We were carrying our own food. Eating while there are half rotten and frozen corpses nearby wasn't appetizing at all but we had to do it to keep our health in check. "I thought we were missing out on the glory but seeing everything around here, I'm just glad to be alive..." Heinrich muttered. The irony wasn't lost as he was the one complaining about not going on that expedition among my squad. I decided not to salt the wound. "It's alright to make mistakes. They all died for humanity. We can only salute to them and try to be liberated from the people outside the walls and make their dreams of freedom a reality." I told Heinrich with a determined tone. "You sound like Eren." I heard Armin mutter. He didn't talk the whole time and I knew why. "Don't compare me to that suicidal bastard. Sure, I want freedom but I'm not willing to die for it." I told him with a smile. I'm not willing to die for anyone except... "If you're quiet because there will be a time when I'll go to take a look at Uncle Erwin and you'll have to be there, please don't feel guilty. What happened that day wasn't Levi or your fault. It was the beast titan, Marley and everyone who are against us Eldians that are responsible for his death, for every deceased soldier's death. If anyone has to face the consequences, it's them. Don't beat yourself up for it." I told Armin in a rather serious tone and my usual stoic voice. "I still feel sorry, Tiana. It should be him sitting here and not me." Armin sighed. The atmosphere was as grim as ever. "But you're alive aren't you? Instead of grieving, make use of it. Make Uncle Erwin proud." I answered.

After we were done with lunch, we went into Shiganshina. I was back home. The buildings close to the inner wall were still intact but the ones closer to the outer wall were completely annihilated. I took a mental note to go back home, bring something from there. Anything. "Check the outer walls first. We will check the houses tommorow." I commanded everyone as I stood on top of the inner wall of Shiganshina, keeping watch of the horses. The safety of the horses were very important after all. I sat on top of the wall, my legs dangling from the edge as I tried to find my old home. The place where I found unconditional love for the first time, the place where I stopped having any trust in people, the place that shaped me into the ruthless soldier that I was, till, I met Levi. Yes, who knew that an equally damaged person would fix me? That I would fix him too? The memories made me smile. The last time I was here, I knew deep down that I lost everything again and I vowed to myself not to get attached to anyone. Looks like I broke that promise to myself. The last time I was here, I lost my parents. Now, I have my so called biological parents but... I don't know how to feel about it. Pixis was a horrible father but he is the reason I'm alive today. He visited me a few times when I was pregnant and also when Farlan was born. He walked me down the aisle... He tried to do as much as he could. It wasn't enough but the thought had to count for something. About my birth mother, I barely know anything about her except the fact that she is the most vile person I've met and I hope I didn't know anything about her existance. The last time I was here, I was considered to be a horrible person for killing a man due to self defence. Now, I'm a respected survey corps squad leader even if I've killed people only because they were in the way. When I left this place, I was a loner and now I have friends, real friends. The last time I was here, I was Tiana Hertz. Now, I am Tiana Ackerman. Memories of training with Uncle Erwin, mom cooking breakfast, reading books at Uncle Erwin's library, planning to join the Garrison like my parents, life was so simple. A small nostalgic smile formed on my face. Before I realised, it was dark and my squad came back after checking the walls. There were no enemies hiding in the walls. We decided to spend the night on the walls as it gave us a better view on the surroundings.

Expedition day 2

I woke up to find Stephan sleeping on watch. This is how people get killed. Armin was on first watch, Heinrich on second, I was on third and Stephan was on the last watch. "Oi Stephan. Get the fuck up." I told him as I threw a bit of my bottle of water on his face. He jerked awake at that. "Tiana-san! I'm so sorry!" He exclaimed but I stopped him before he gave any excuse. "Don't try to give any excuses. We are supposed to be the second Special operations squad. We are supposed to be the squad second only to Levi squad. I won't tolerate such unprofessional behaviour. I'm ignoring it now as none of us is dead or kidnapped but don't let it happen again." I told him firmly. "HAI!" he shouted out, completely nervous and flustered. I woke the others up and we all had our ration bars as breakfast. When we were done, I commanded them, "Heinrich, stay with the horses. The rest of us will check the houses that are not completely demolished. We have to be on our way back an hour before sundown. Don't waste any time now.". With that, everyone went into action. Before Armin went down the wall, I called him out. "Oi Armin! Wait a second!" I called him. "Huh? What?" Armin looked at me, confused. "I need to go to the house where Uncle Erwin was kept. Take me there." I muttered. I wasn't ready for it. I would never be ready for it but I had to do this at some point. "Oh.. Okay.." Armin muttered. His face clearly showed he wasn't ready for it either. He flew off with his ODM gear while I followed. After what seemed like an eternity, we reached a small house, in average condition. The door was bolted shut due to the thick layer of snow on the road. "I guess we need to dig this up. Armin, we found shovels in the farms in the inner wall right? Get those. Fast." I commanded Armin before he shot off towards the wall again. I sat down on the snow after he left and touched the door. He's in there. He will not look the same. He will be just another half rotten and frozen body. Do I want to see that? Or should I live with the memory of him? It felt like Armin came with the shovels too quickly. I wasn't able to make a decision. The others took shovels with them already as none of the doors could be opened for the snow. Armin and I forgot about it because we both were too nervous about this moment. We shoveled the snow away. It didn't take long and I knew that I had to face it as I couldn't make a decision between if I should or shouldn't. The door opened with a creak and I could see a dining room. Everything was shattered inside, broken glasses everywhere. A lone table and a few chairs sat in the middle of the room. "He's upstairs. In a bedroom." Armin muttered before leading the way. I followed him mindlessly inside the house. This is it. I wasn't able to make a decision and so, I will have to face this. The bedroom door opened with a louder creak. The wooden door was rotten due to weather and lack of maintenance. As the door opened, I saw a small bed lying near the broken window. On the bed, laid a figure. I couldn't call that thing Uncle Erwin. It was a red blob, shapeless, hairless, draped in the survey corps uniform. That wasn't Uncle Erwin. Uncle Erwin can't exist without his energetic blue eyes, perfect blonde hair, the hint of smile on his face... That thing couldn't be Uncle Erwin. My mind was racing, I was in the verge of yet another emotional breakdown but I controlled myself. I told myself, "You didn't change, Tiana. Just because you have more empathy doesn't mean you can't face reality. Reality is disappointing. That's the remains of Uncle Erwin. It isn't him. It's the residue he left behind. It means nothing. The only thing meaningful was his life and that ceased to exist months back. A dead body doesn't mean anything.". That's right. It doesn't mean anything. My memories of Uncle Erwin are the only things that matter. "Tiana? Are you okay?" Armin meeked in cautiously. He clearly was feeling uncomfortable, guilty and probably a bit scared by my silence. "I'm okay." I answered with a steady voice. I didn't feel pain anymore. I just had a numb feeling and a lot of memories to make up for the loss of Uncle Erwin. "I'm sorry Tiana" I heard Armin mutter, almost crying. "Don't be sorry Armin. I'm glad you're alive. I'm glad you're not on that bed. Uncle Erwin suffered a lot in his entire life. I think he would appreciate being freed from this world. He lives on in my memories. That thing infront of me is just proof that he existed. It's nothing more than that." I told Armin, my voice not faltering for once. Armin probably thought that I got back to being as cold hearted as before but he was completely wrong. It wasn't the case at all. It's my love for Uncle Erwin, my trust in Levi's decision, the fact that I cared about my comrades and the fact that I was glad that Armin wasn't laying dead on that bed that helped me stay calm and accept the situation. I wasn't being emotionless, I was anything but emotionless as my head was filled with emotions. Only this time, they showed hope for a better future, and they hoped that Uncle Erwin is finally at peace.

We skipped lunch break and worked hard. We had do be done with checking and ride to Trost by evening. It took a long time to check every nook and cranny of every houses. We took turns to watch horses so that all of us gets some rest and food in the middle of working. We were done by 5 pm, working a total of 11 hours. "You all, get some rest and eat some food. I'll go take a look at something." I told my squad before getting down from the wall. We didn't take extra gas as we needed the ODM gear only to climb the wall or for special circumstances. I flew towards my old home, which I didn't get to check as I was checking homes near the one where Uncle Erwin was kept. There were no enemies here and we didn't have to save our gas. I landed infront of my home. The windows were broken, the door was smashed, the wooden floors inside were rotten. It still was home. I entered to find a very familiar but rotten wooden table. Broken plates still in the sink of the attached kitchen. Mom never got to clean those... The instinctively, I went to the sitting room, the place I spent most of my time at home. A shelf there held a few books, all of them familiar. One book much much more than the others.

12 years ago

_It's dark. They went away a while back. It hurts... It's dark... I'm hungry... I'm scared... Is that a bug there? Please don't come near me... Please... Please... Footsteps? Why? Why now? No... I can't take anymore... Not today... No... No... "Let's get this little bitch on the stage now." I heard a voice say. "She really was useful till the end eh? Even earned some money a while back. Though not enough to keep her here. The bitch keeps wailing every time. Irritates the customers away... Hope some rich pervert would buy her off today." I heard another man grunt. They were unlocking the door. What's a stage? Buy me? What do they mean? I clutched my book close to me. I didn't read it for a long time. I was home when I read it the last time... It was about a girl who ran away from her mean step sisters and mother and entered a magical world. I always wanted to be like her and run away from this place and go to a magical place where there's nothing but happiness. I couldn't do that though... They locked me here... The book reminded me of my mother every time I held it. She bought it to me. She helped me escape this place with it for atleast a while. I miss her... Even if she only scolded me, I miss her. She promised me that she would take me back home... Why isn't she here yet? They entered the room. No... Please stay away... They didn't speak to me but grabbed me and picked me up and took me out. I was too scared to speak. They used to beat me if I shouted. Everyone hitted me, cut me... I screamed louder every time... It made them do it more. I am used to it. The book fell into the room from my hand. No! Stop! I want my book! Stop! My mind screamed but my mouth made no sound. I stopped questioning them a long time ago. Questioning them only meant getting beaten. I was used to it but I didn't want to get beaten because of my own fault. They took me to a well lit place. There was a weird raised place and weird metal things hanging from the wall behind the raised place. They did something with those metal things and my hands were stuck to the wall. This must be the stage. I've never seen anything like this before. I sat there for a long time. There were many old people in there. They looked at me in a way that made me feel uncomfortable. They want to hurt me. I know that. Suddenly, something weird happened. It felt as if I didn't have to run away to the magic world. The magic world came to me. Green cloaked men pooled into the room. They took the men sitting there away, beat some of them up, beat up the man who used to beat me all the time and hurt me in the other way. A blonde man approached me. I looked down in fear. It's a man. Men hurts me... Men are bad... He kneeled infront of me. "Don't be scared. You are safe now. No one will hurt you again." he told me in a soothing voice. It was different from the others. "Hanji! Give me a hair clip!" he told a young girl with brown hair. The girl smiled at me slightly and handed the man a hair clip. He used the hair clip and did something to the metal thing stuck to my hand. The others were doing the same to the girls with their hands stuck beside me. I was placed near the corner of the room, so, as soon as I was freed, I huddled up to the corner, hugged my legs, trying to hide my naked body and looked up at the man in fear. "It's okay. Everything will be okay. What's your name dear?" he asked me with a kind smile. Like the pictures in my book. For the first time in years, I talked out of my own free will. Those men made me say things and call them master when they hurted me. I never talked on my own. "Tiana" I managed to croak out. "Nice to meet you, Tiana. I'm Erwin. Everything is going to be okay." he told me with a kind smile. He then opened his cloak and put it around me. He clearly was different from those men. Those men took off the little clothes I had. He gave me clothes. He stood up as I clutched the cloak around me. He held his hand out and said, "Can you get up? Take anything you need from here. We will take you above ground and give you a good family.". Shakily, I took his hand. I led him to my room and picked up the book and hugged the book. "Is that all?" he asked me. I nodded at him. "Okay, let's get you out of here now." he told me with a smile. _

_The next thing I knew was that I was sitting at a clean office. They gave me clothes of my size. Another girl wearing the same uniform as the blonde man gave me a bath. I was clean. There was food infront of me. Good food. I ate like a monster. I didn't let go of the book for once though except while taking the bath. The life I knew before was gone. I entered the magical world. _

Present day

A small nostalgic smile formed on my face as I took the book in my hand. It took my parents months to make me let go of it. The cover was dusty and I blowed it to remove the dust. I looked at the cover. "Tiana's adventure to fairyland" written on it. My mother never bothered to give me a name. When she gave me the book, I decided my name was Tiana. She picked it up from there, everyone did. I decided to take the book back home for Farlan as well as because of it's nostalgic value. I grabbed the book and flew back to the wall. I sat with everyone, a ghost of a smile stuck on my lips and ate a ration bar. The atmosphere was condensed with melancholia. They really should clean the corpses up as soon as possible. This place is a health hazard as well as a grim reminder of the battle that costed the lives of hundreds of soldiers. We packed up and left for Trost right on time. All that was left to do was to get outside the walls and face our enemies.


	31. The calm before the storm

Tiana POV

The wind made my hair fly vigorously. It has gotten longer and I probably will have to cut it. I'll ask Levi if he prefers it long or not. I could see the wall in the distance as we galloped towards it. Wall Rose, our home. The winter was almost over, the snow will melt by the next month. As soon as we give the news of our success in eradicating all titans in Wall Maria, the refugees would start preparing to go back. That would take about a month and everyone would start moving out by spring. A month will also be required for the Garrison to start cleaning the bodies out. They would do it as soon as we bring the news of success. The two teams that were surveying the inner walls reached near trost in formation as soon as we were near the door. "You all wait a second. I'll take a briefing from them." I told my squad before going towards the survey corps squad. Being the squad leader of one of the four commanding squads gave me a certain amount of power in the scout regiment.

[Author's note: The ranking of the survey corps is pretty vague, so I made my own version. Before Erwin's death, Levi was the captain, Hanji was the section commander, Mike Zacharias and Dita ness were two high rank squad leaders. The four of them made the commanding squads, the squads that held a certain amount of power over all other squads. Levi and Hanji's ranking held a similar amount of power, only, Hanji was Erwin's successor to commander and Erwin's right hand. Levi held the same amount of power on other squads as Hanji but he wasn't Erwin's successor. Mike Zacharias and Dita ness held equal power on other squads as eachother but less than Hanji and Levi. Now, Hanji is commander but Levi is still captain. Hanji didn't choose a section commander yet, so there are three remaining high rank squad leaders including Tiana.]

"Oi! How are things here? Any deaths or titans spotted?" I asked the squad leader. "No Squad leader Tiana. No titans were spotted and no one died. It seems like all of them were killed in the last expedition." The squad leader replied. "Good. I'll be off then." I told him before returning to my squad. The lifts were already lowered. I led my horse to the horse lift and stepped in the other one with my squad. We will be going back to Wall Maria and beyond the walls soon. Maybe we would get to see the ocean that Armin talked about. There were so many possibilities even if the entire world was our enemy. The people of Trost welcomed us in. I was happy to give them the news that I just got from the squad outside the wall. I gave my squad the permission to do whatever they wanted for now before travelling towards the Capital Mitras to give the supreme commander the news of no enemy being spotted in Shiganshina. It was highly unlikely that the others would spot any enemy either. I reached Mitras at night to find that Levi, Hanji and Mikasa were there too. We all reached at the same time. As I got down from my horse at the stable, Levi approached me. "Tiana, I need to talk to you in private." he told me, giving a brief look towards Mikasa and Hanji, who were also at the stable. "Well, we will go report to the supreme commander. I'll tell him you two will be there shortly." Hanji briefly told Levi after I nodded at him. Levi took me behind the stable in an empty corridor and before I could say anything, he kissed me. I didn't hesitate kissing back either because I missed him. I wish I didn't have to face Uncle Erwin alone. After a somewhat long and passionate kiss, Levi broke it and touched his forehead on mine, our eyes still closed. "I was worried." he muttered. I understood how he felt. He wasn't too good with words but I knew how he felt. "I'm here. I'll always be here" I whispered to him. To that, he pulled me in a tight hug. The warmth of his hug made me struggle to keep myself from falling asleep while standing because I was exhausted. I didn't get any sleep on the wall as I was constantly worried about getting ambushed. After all, I made a promise. "Levi, I'll tall asleep if you hug me any longer. I'm really tired." I muttered to him and he pulled away. "Well, let's report to Zackly." Levi answered to that and we headed towards the building.

The supreme commander seemed happy with our reports and even offered us wine which we politely declined. We had to get back to Farlan and just go home to take some rest. Levi offered that we could take a wagon in case if I felt too tired but I avoided it as I had no intention to sleep on a hard piece of wood and every intention to pass out on a comfy bed with Levi's arms around me. By the time we reached Trost with Farlan, it was dawn. We knew that we would get a day off and I ordered my squad to look after Farlan for a while so that Levi and I could get our well deserved rest. The month passed quicker than expected. The survey corps and Garrison declared Wall Maria to be titan free. The Garrison was in charge of cleaning up the mess of Shiganshina and repairing all housing. Whatever remains left of the fallen soldiers in Shiganshina were collected and given a mass burial back in the army burials of Capital Mitras. Everyone got a combined headstone. Uncle Erwin's body was also recovered and as the 13th commander of the survey corps, he received a seperate grave. I finally had the chance to give Uncle Erwin a proper funeral. Many civilians showed up at the funeral, a rather modest one without much arrangements for food or refreshments. They didn't care though. He was that one person that made many notable achievements for humanity...or just our kingdom of Paradis. We wouldn't have known that we weren't alone, the extent of how strong our enemies are without his help. The entire survey corps were there, along with many from the Garrison and some from the military police, all in their uniform. Only civilians dressed in black. The funeral went through the standard army procedure, we all saluted to the great man who attained the respect of all his comrades. After the army procedure was done, everyone was allowed to come forward and speak a few words about Uncle Erwin. Historia was the first to go as queen. She mentioned how Uncle Erwin allowed her to land the final blow on Rod Reiss, her father. How he was concerned but believed in her. The Supreme commander went next and told of his experience on dealing with the cunning commander. How Uncle Erwin never failed to impress him and how he thought Uncle Erwin was a very interesting man. Pixis was called after that and he did something that I never expected. "Erwin Smith was a man who I knew I could trust as we saw eye to eye on most matters. He helped me out in various occations and I don't think I have quiet paid the debt back. You see, many years back, I found out that I had a daughter. A man needs some release at times and I made the mistake of going underground for it. I didn't know about her till it was too late. She was found at an underground brothel, almost sold off, during a survey corps raid. I think all of you have a fair idea about who I am talking about at this point. Yes, Tiana, also known as the strongest woman in humanity, though that title brings serious doubts now given that there are people living in the world besides us, she is my daughter. I could've taken her back then but seeing how much of a terrible father I have been, I decided she would be better off in a family. I was wrong and everyone knows the rest. I never intended for her to find out about me but she did and I decided I should face reality instead of trying to hide behind the walls I made for myself. As the commander of the Garrison, I do have the tendency of not crossing the walls. Erwin took really good care of Tiana when I wasn't present. The Hertz couple were a good fit for her but as much as I know, Tiana spent more time with Erwin, training, reading... Erwin helped her grow as a person, something that I should have done. I'm always going to be thankful towards Erwin for taking care of my daughter and there was no way to pay him back. That's all." he said.

Levi POV

I personally was surprised by the fact that Pixis came clean about Tiana infront of the public. Did he drink too much? He must have drank too much. Tiana looked equally as surprised as I did. The reporters from the newspapers had a new glint to their eyes. We would have to deal with their shit after the programme is over. Thankfully, Hanji, who was in charge of arranging the programme, got the situation under control and gave Nile Dok a chance on the stage. No one really cared about his cadet corps days with Erwin after what Pixis mentioned. It was Hanji's turn after him and then it was my turn. I got up, went to the stage and started talking. "Erwin Smith found me when I was in a very shitty position in life. He took me in the military, helped me get a better life. I can't be thankful enough for that. He was a man who never thought a second time before throwing away lives for humanity as we knew back then, but perhaps, if he didn't become a demon among the normal people, we wouldn't have known the truth of the world now. I personally decided that it was time for him to rest that day in Shiganshina because we pushed the man into becoming a ruthless soldier, someone who wasn't allowed to have feelings. I knew how hard that was after I met my wife. He didn't deserve it, no, we didn't deserve a man like him." I ended my speech before returning to my seat next to Tiana. It was her turn now. I gave her a reassuring look as she headed towards the stage. The crowd, as well as the reporters seemed much more eager about listening to her speech. "Well, I had a speech written down but seems like I won't be using that. Commander Pixis stated how my childhood was already and I wouldn't comment much on that but I would definitely say that Erwin Smith, the man who was like a father figure to me, made me see hope in this cruel world countless times. He trained me to defend myself, he introduced me to my love towards reading, he was the reason I kept on living after everything was taken from me. He might not be alive today but his memories live on. The day I saw his dead body for the first time, I realized that the body was only a proof that he lived. What mattered most was his contribution towards all of our lives, specially mine." Tiana stated, her face etched into a light frown but stoic nonetheless. The other speeches were dull and uninteresting. That was until a civilian mentioned that his brother, someone who died on the mission to retake wall Maria, had felt how Erwin felt during the 57th expedition. I remembered that one, I gave him Petra's batch after he lost his friend trying to recover another friend's body. "Levi, you couldn't have had his friend's batch." Tiana mentioned in a low tone beside me. "Yes I know." I answered, curious about why she seemed angry. "I saw you take Petra's batch. Was that her's?" Tiana asked, her tone sounding more sad than angry. "Yes. It was her's. Are you okay?" I asked Tiana, concerned about her. "Why did you take her batch? You told me you didn't have feelings for her..." Tiana muttered, looking down at her hands. "Tiana, I didn't have feelings for her. I never did and never will do. I felt guilty that the last conversation I had with her was the one where I rejected her. I felt like I should have changed her squad instead of giving her a chance. I thought about changing her squad too. I felt like she died because of me and I needed to give her father something that belonged to her. Something other than her dead body. That's all there was to it." I explained. "Oh" she answered, with a hint of smile on her face. She still didn't regret her death did she?

One Month later

The refugees returned to their newly repaired and cleaned homes in Wall Maria. Farlan was three months old now and if we thought his crying was bad enough before, it was like living in hell now. I was always used to 3 hours of sleep a day but now, even I get sleep deprived. I'm never having children again. Tiana always manages to calm him down but the woman needs some sleep too. I feel bad for her sometimes and try to take care of Farlan but he keeps shrieking like a banshee. God knows what the fuck I do wrong. The expedition outside wall Maria was coming soon enough and my table was filled with stacks of paperworks. Hanji was kind enough to give Tiana a comparatively less amount after she got baby sitting duty when Tiana and I had to go and talk to the nobles about expedition budget. Apparantly being the strongest soldiers among Eldians gave us some benefits. Other than that, we recently found out that Tiana had a talent of managing people. She probably got that from Pixis. This was discovered when Tiana was being interviewed by the newspaper reporters about the revelation by Pixis. Tiana answered their questions on point and as short and informatively as possible, without letting out too much or making it seem too mysterious thus getting rid of all the sudden public attention. Hanji decided that she should go talk to those filthy nobles after that and I, ofcourse, volunteered to go with her as I didn't want anyone else hitting on what's mine. We still lived at Trost, making an hour long travel to Shiganshina everyday, with Tiana strapping Farlan to her while going to work. She hated leaving Farlan out of sight except when we are in bed, which isn't happening too often as he seems to start shrieking every time Tiana leaves him alone. I understood why she did that though. She just wanted to make sure Farlan has the best childhood and is always cared for. That woman is the perfect mother. I'm not too sure about myself. The new headquarters were at Shiganshina, making it easier to travel out. The expedition was to take place next week.

One week Later

Tiana POV

We were standing on top of the wall, the lifts lowering our horses. Only the two special operations squads and Hanji were going on this expedition as no titans were spotted outside of the wall. Both Hanji and I had a theory that all the titans were already inside Wall Maria and we took care of them. Everyone except Levi and Hanji seemed excited to finally leave Wall Maria, and that included me even if I didn't show it off. Uncle Erwin's formation technique would be used so that we could avoid any titan, if any came into view. The plan for now was to go to the end of the island to ensure Eren's father's information were right or not. There must be the so called ocean at the end of the land. The plan after that was eradicating any remaining titan that were on this island and creating a base near the ocean so that Marleyans couldn't throw more titans in here.

Hanji was right. We didn't encounter any titan on our way. Just one which wasn't able to move. "That's one of our compatriots. Someone who'd been sent to 'heaven'. We're close. I'm sure of it." Eren stated before following Levi and galloping forward. After travelling a small distance, we came across a wall. A man made wall. "This is where the Eldians were turned into Titans." Eren stated again. We trotted past it and saw something that was utterly unbelievable. A huge blue wherever my eyes went. Water everywhere. As if it didn't have an end. This was the ocean.

Everyone was already in the ocean. My squad, Sasha, Connie and Jean were playing in the water. Armin stood in the water, looking at something near his feet while Eren was looking at the horizon. Mikasa was struggling to take her shoes off. Hanji was already experimenting and I was tempted to join her. However, it could be dangerous... "Woahhhh! Is this really all salt water?! Huh?! I see something!" she exclaimed and that was enough to catch my attention. I swiftly got my shoes off and went towards her. "What is it?" I asked her, curiosity clear on my face. "Watch out, both of you. Don't touch it. It could be poisonous." Levi voiced my concerns. I wasn't going to touch it anyway. While Hanji fiddled with some black weird things, I looked over at Eren and the others. Mikasa and Armin were smiling but Eren had a melancholic expression. "I'll be back." I told Hanji and Levi and walked towards the trio. Mikasa and Eren were good friends, specially Mikasa. Armin was more of an intellectual competition to me but he had my respect too after everything that happened. "And on the other side of the ocean is freedom. That's what I always believed. But I was wrong. It's enemies that are on the other side of the ocean. This is exactly as I saw in my old man's memories. Right? Those enemies on the other side of here, if we kill them all, does that mean we'll be free?" I overheard Eren. "They took everything from me too. I'd kill them at the first chance I get. We will have freedom and justice." I spoke from behind Eren. Eren chuckled at that and said, "You're the last person I expected to hear that from.". " Why is that?" I asked him, confused. "Well, I thought you didn't care about things like freedom or people." he answered. "Well, seems like you were wrong. I would kill anyone who tries to harm my child. I would try my best to protect Levi. I do care. I cared about Uncle Erwin and I will help Levi keep his promise to kill that ape." I answered, my eyes murderous. "Uh.. I thought we were having fun?" Armin meeked in, looking slightly intimidated. So much for the colossal titan. "Yes, I'll leave you to that, I answered before going back to Levi. He didn't get into the water. Clean freak... I held his hand as I looked into the horizon. When he looked at me and raised an eyebrow, I gave him a smile and squeezed his arm. He awarded me with a smirk before looking at the hoizon himself. We looked at our squads having fun. This was only a calm before the storm but I, Tiana Ackerman, can tell you that I have never been happier.

[AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, that's the end of Cold hearts. I'll update a chapter here when I'm ready to post the sequel. Till then, bye guys.]


	32. Update on sequel

**Hey guys! I have published the first chapter of the sequel to cold hearts! The sequel is named Cruel Fate and you can find it in my account. Thanks for all your support! **


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